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DISCOURSES. 


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DISCOURSES 


ON 


THE  NATURE  OE  EAITH, 


AND  KINDRED  SUBJECTS, 


BY   THE   LATE 


WILLIAM     H.     STAER 


WITH    A    MEMOIR. 


E>.     B.      COOK     &     CO 

1857. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1857, 

By    JOSEPH    JOHNSTON, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States, 

for  Illinois. 


PREFACE. 


A  FEW  months  before  his  decease,  the  ^uthor  of 
the  Discourses  on  the  Nature  of  Faith  expressed 
a  hope  that  he  might  at  some  time  be  able  to  revise 
them  for  publication.  Upon  consultation  with  per- 
sonal and  literary  friends,  it  is  thought  that,  without 
the  finish  which  his  own  hand  would  have  given 
them,  they  will  nevertheless  be  a  worthy  memorial, 
and  contribute  to  the  knowledge  of  Christian  truth. 

The  other  Discourses  are  added,  partly  as  com- 
pleting the  previous  discussions,  and  partly  as  a  por- 
traiture of  evils  which  he  felt  more  keenly  than  most 
persons,  and  which  for  Christ's  sake  he  most  deeply 
deplored. 

To  those  who  may  suffer  as  he  did  from  these 
evils,  or  who  may  doubt  respecting  his  views  of 
Christian  Faith,  the  Notes  which  have  been  appended 
may  be  not  without  value. 


CONTENTS. 


Psgd 

Memoir 9 

The  Fugitive  :  A  Poem — Passages  from 51 

Discourse  I. — Faith — Its  Nature — Importance  of  the  Sub- 
ject    59 

DiscouRse  II. — Faith — Definitions  Examined 72 

Discourse  III. — Faith — True  Definition 81 

Discourse  IV. — Faith — Its  Moral  Quality 96 

Discourse  V. — Faith — Its  General  Application 108 

Discourse  VI.— Faith— In  the  Affairs  of  this  World 120 

Discourse  VII. — Religious  Faith 130 

•Discourse  VIIL — Faith  in  God — Its   Nature    and   Influ- 
ence   141 

Discourse  IX. — Faith  in  Christ — Regenerating 153 

Discourse  X. — Faith  in  Christ — Justifying 162 

Discourse  XI. — Faith  in  Christ — Sanctifying 174 

Discourse  XII. — The  Repose  of  Faith 183 

Discourse  XIII. — Repentance 193 


viii  CONTENTS. 

Paste. 

Discourse  XIV. — Evils  of  Sectarianism 211 

Discourse  XV. — Evils  of  Sectarianism 222 

Discourse  XVI. — Evils  of  Sectarianism 232 

Discourse  XVII. — Evils  of  Sectarianism 246 

Appendix. — Analysis  of  Faith 260 

Note  A. — That  Faith  is  Rational 262 

Note  B.— That  Faith  is  Voluntary . 269 

Note  C— That  Faith  is  Moral 270 

Note  D. — Statements    combining  the   above 

Views 274 

Note  E. — Authorities  touching  Sectarianism. 277 


DISCOURSES 


ON    THE 


NATURE  OF  FAITH,  AND  KINDRED  SUBJECTS. 


MEMOIR. 


William  Henry  Staer  was  born  in  Middletown,  Conn., 
on  Sunday,  April  27th,  1817.  His  father,  Mr.  James 
Starr,  was  an  ingenious  and  enterprising  man,  engaged  at 
one  time  in  the  stereotype  business,  in  New-York.  His 
mechanical  skill,  or  constructive  talent,  was  inherited  by  the 
son,  and  displayed  in  a  ready  use  of  tools,  as  well  as,  per- 
haps, in  his  facility  of  systematic  thinking.  His  mother 
was  the  daughter  of  the  Kev.  Henry  Ely,  who  preached  in 
Killingworth,  Conn.,  for  a  period  of  twenty  years.  It 
was  a  happy  family  incident,  which  seemed  to  be  a  little 
prophetic  in  its  character,  that  William  was  called  "  the 
Parson,"  in  allusion  to  the  day  of  his  birth. 

When  he  was  about  seven  years  of  age,  the  family  re- 
moved to  Boston,  and  four  years  after,  to  Baltimore.  In 
1832,  they  settled  in  Alton,  Illinois.  During  the  follow- 
ing summer,  which  was  a  season  of  prevailing  sickness, 
they  suffered,  in  a  large  measure,  the  hardships  of  pioneer 
life.     All    were   prostrate  with  'bilious    fever ;    help  was 

2 


10  MEMOIR. 

scarcely  to  be  obtained  ;  all,  by  turns,  suffered  relapses, 
from  undue  exertion  in  caring  for  the  rest.  On  the  6th  of 
August  the  father  died.     In  their  desolate  home  the  wife 

o 

and  children  still  endured  the  lingering  reaction  of  the 
fever,  until  the  autumn  of  the  following  year. 

William's  opportunities  for  acquiring  an  education  were 
limited.  For  several  years,  beginning  with  Christmas  of 
1832,  he  was  mostly  employed  as  a  merchant's  clerk.  A 
few  months  of  the  year  1834  were  spent  in  the  High  School 
of  Upper  Alton,  now  Shirtliff  College,  in  the  study  of 
alsebra  and  some  common  Endish  branches,  but  with 
much  interruption  by  ague.  His  next  school  privilege,  be- 
fore he  entered  college,  was  a  period  of  about  six  months 
spent  at  Jacksonville,  in  the  year  1839. 

He  made  his  first  public  profession  of  religion  by  unit- 
ing with  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Carlinville,  in  1835. 
His  religious  impressions  and  hopes,  however,  began  in 
earlier  life,  of  which  we  have  an  account  in  his  own 
words :  "  Among  my  earliest  recollections,"  says  he, 
"  reaching  back  to  the  age  of  two  or  three  years,  is  that  of 
the  pleasure  1  took  in  saying  my  prayers  very  devoutly  on 
going  to  bed.  It  seemed  to  me  then  that  I  enjoyed  the 
love  of  God.  For  years  afterward,  though  I  became  care- 
less and  as  full  of  selfish  desires  as  other  children,  yet  on 
the  occasion  of  any  sickness  in  my  father's  family,  I  would 
fall  to  praying  and  confessing,  and  making  ever  so  many 
fair  promises  to  God,  if  the  evil  might  be  averted.  And 
while  living  in  Baltimore,  in  1830  or  1831,  I  had  lively 
religious  exercises ;  and  I  remember  now  distinctly  the 
scene  where  I  thought  I  gave  my  heart  to  God,  while 
reading  a  hymn  on  the  back  of  a  tract.  For  some  time 
after,  I  was  very  conscientious  and  prayerful.     Gnidually 


MEMOIR.  11 

I  became  as  before.  But  for  some  time  previous  to  the  pe- 
riod of  mj-  uniting  with  the  Cliurch,  having  boarded  in 
Mr.  Bela  VVhite's  family,  and  his  wife  being  a  Hving  Chris- 
tian, I  made  up  my  mind  to  be  a  Christian  on  the  first  oppor- 
tunity (as  I  then  thought).  On  occasion,  therefore,  of  a 
series  of  meetings,  held  by  Mr.  Lippincott  and  Mr.  Black- 
burn, I  came  forward.  My  religious  exercises  at  this  time 
were  powerful  and  distinct.  After  laboring  under  convic- 
tion for  several  days,  at  last,  when  engaged  in  prayer  which 
I  had  begun  with  the  supplicating  cry  of  an  awakened 
sinner,  1  began  to  call  God,  Father.  My  feelings  expe- 
rienced a  great  change.     I  was  full  of  joy  and  love."* 

Even  after  this  Mr.  S.  finds  himself  laboring  under  false 
impressions  of  the  nature  of  religion,  as  though  it  lay 
mostly  in  certain  feelings,  rather  than  the  faithful  and  cheer- 
ful discharge  of  Christian  duty.  His  early  experience  is 
apparent,  we  think,  in  the  interest  which  he  felt  in  chil- 
dren ;  and  it  may  explain  certain  views  of  Christian  nur- 
ture which  he  presented  to  his  people  a  few  months  before 
his  death,  in  which  he  v/as  supposed  to  deny  the  need  of 
regeneration  as  a  condition  of  early  piety.  If  we  under- 
stood his  own  statements,  it  was  the  burden  of  his  arofu- 
ment  on  this  occasion,  to  show  that  children  should  not  be 
discouraged  by  theories  of  conversion  which  they  cannot 
understand ;  that  the  faults  of  children  need  no  more  prove 
them   unconverted   than  the   faults   of  adult  backsliders 

should  prove  them  unconverted  ;  and  above  all,  that  pa- 

« 

*  This  account  is  taken  from  a  journal  kept  by  Mr.  S-,  of  wliica  we  shall 
make  frequent  use.  That  it  was  written  with  no  view  to  a  memoir,  is  clear 
from  his  retiring  disposition,  from  the  business  nature  of  much  of  its  contents, 
and  from  the  following  note :  "  I  begin  this  day  (Nov,  27.  1850)  a  journal  or 
memorandum  of  such  things  as  for  any  reason  I  may  wish  to  refer  to  in  my 
daily  history." 


12  MEMOIR. 

rents  might  and  should  bring  up  their  children  to  be  Chris- 
tians from  their  eafliest  youth. 

Along  with  his  early  religious  convictions  should  be 
named  his  ardent  love  of  liberty,  and  his  intense  hatred  of 
oppression.  He  was  but  a  youth,  w^hen  the  martyrdom  of 
Lovejoy  occurred ;  yet  he  was  one  of  those  who  assisted 
in  receiving  the  printing-press,  and  in  guarding  the  person 
of  Lovejoy,  when  he  fell.  This  youthful  courage  might 
have  been  a  mere  boyish  enthusiasm,  if  it  were  his  only 
adventure  for  freedom.  But,  viewed  as  part  of  a  life  of 
struggle  for  freedom,  it  assumes  the  dignity  of  a  higher 
principle  of  action. 

For  two  years  Mr.  S.  was  engaged  as  a  clerk  in  Alton, 
until  the  summer  of  1838,  when  he  fell  out  of  business  by 
the  embarrassments  of  that  period.  He  was  absent  from 
Alton  for  a  time,  at  Bellevue,  Iowa,  but  returned  in  the 
winter.  From  this  time  he  appears  to  have  directed  his 
mind  to  preparation  for  college,  with  a  view  to  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel.  His  application  was  intense,  and  his 
progress  uncommonly  rapid.  In  May,  1839, 4ie  went  to 
Jacksonville,  to  continue  his  studies,  where  he  was  admitted 
to  college  in  October  of  the  same  year. 

Partly  from  the  necessity  of  a  rigid  economy,  and  partly 
from  the  peculiarities  of  a  dyspeptic  appetite,  he  boarded 
himself  during  the  greater  part  of  his  collegiate  course. 
He  also  suffered  much  from  sickness.  Once  in  particular, 
in  his  Junior  year,  he  w^as  confined  for  about  six  weeks, 
by  a  swelling  or  dropsy  of  the  knee-joint,  from  which  he 
felt  frequent  inconvenience  in  his  after  life,  being  some- 
times unable  to  leave  his  bed,  and  frequently  preaching 
when  he  could  not  walk  to  his  church.  His  privations 
from  these  causes  were  ever  borne  without  complaint. 


MEMOIR.  13 

Notwithstanding  these  hindrances,  he  ever  maintained  a 
high  rank  in  his  class.  "  He  was,"  says  Professor  Adams, 
"  highly  distinguished  in  college  as  a  scholar.  He  com- 
bined, in  an  eminent  degree,  the  powers  oT  rapid  acquisi- 
tion and  thorough  and  accurate  comprehension.  I  do  not 
know  that  he  possessed  a  peculiar  taste  or  capacity  for  one 
study  more  than  for  another,  but  he  excelled  alike  in  all." 
Professor  Post  says  of  him  :  "As  his  teacher  in  classical 
literature,  I  can  testify  to  his  brilliant  success  and  rare 
attainment  in  that  department.  I  have  never  taught  one 
who  exhibited  in  classic  scholarship  such  superior  excel- 
lency and  promise  during  his  academic  course.  In  this 
department  his  mind  showed  itself  patient,  severe  in  its 
analysis,  quick  and  delicate  in  apprehension,  and  rapid  and 
felicitous  in  combination.  Nor  is  it  my  impression  that 
there  was  a  disproportionate  development  of  mind  in  this 
direction.  His  mind,  I  think,  was  a  very  symmetrical  one, 
both  in  the  original  adjustment  of  faculties,  and  in  their 
culture.  It  could  have  been,  and  I  think  it  was,  applied 
with  much  success  to  metaphysical  truth."  And  Dr. 
Edward  Beecher  writes  :  "I  can  truly  say  that,  so  far  as  I 
knew  him,  I  was  very  much  prepossessed  in  his  favor.  His 
intellectual  powers  were  uncommon,  and  were  in  harmony 
with  the  other  parts  of  a  well-proportioned  character." 

His  retiring  disposition,  unfortunately,  caused  him  to  be 
misunderstood  by  his  classmates.  '•  A  sensitiveness  almost 
morbid,"  says  Professor  A.,  "  made  him  often  shrink  from 
those  intimacies  which  cement  strong  friendships  between 
congenial  minds.  Some  thought  him  unsocial,  and  even  re- 
pulsive. But  such  had  not  learned  to  know  his  heart. 
He  was  not  popular  among  his  fellow-students  in  college  ; 
but  it  was  rather  from  the  want  of  those  attractive  social 


14  MEMOIR. 

qualities  which  are  prized  by  the  young,  than  from  any 
thing  which  any  one  could  say  against  him.  The  worst 
crime  that  I  ever  heard  charged  against  him  was  want  of 
amiability,"  He  r.dds:  "Most,  if  not  all,  of  those  who 
were  alienated  from  him  while  in  college,  became  after- 
wards his  warmest  friends.  Through  written  correspond- 
ence and  occasional  personal  intercourse,  all  unpleasant 
feelings  seem  to  have  been  obliterated,  and  to  have  given 
place  to  cordial  friendships.  This  change  was  partly  at- 
tributable to  a  better  understanding  of  his  cLaraeter  on 
the  part  of  others,  and  partly  to  an  actual  improvement  of 
character,  by  the  growth  of  the  Christian  life  within  him." 

Mr.  S.  has  said,  to  those  with  whom  he  was  most  in- 
timate, that  a  temper  naturally  quick  and  impetuous,  added 
to  a  nervous  sensitiveness,  was  the  great  trial  of  his  early 
life  ;  that  few  could  understand  what  labor  it  had  cost  him 
to  discipline  and  restrain  his  feelings ;  and  that  if  he  had 
acquired  any  habitual  self-control,  it  was  due,  not  to  him- 
self, but  to  the  special  grace  of  God.  In  his  journal, 
recounting  his  experience  after  making  a  profession  of  re- 
ligion, he  speaks  of  a  late  maturity  of  Christian  character. 
He  says :  "  Not  knowing  the  necessity  of  a  system  of  pri- 
vate devotion,  I  gradually  fell  away  for  several  years.  I 
became  more  and  more  involved  in  sin,  though  never  for- 
saking wholly  prayer  and  the  reading  of  the  Bible.  After 
graduating  at  Illinois  College,  and  while  teaching  there, 
the  death  of  a  young  man  alarmed  me,  and  roused  me  to 
new  effort.  My  '  assurance '  was  gone,  and  I  had  now  to 
pray  long  before  I  could  obtain  it  again.  From  that  time 
I  trust  that,  by  the  Divine  Grace,  I  have  been  making  some 
progress  in  the  Christian  life." 

The   following    expressions,    however,   written   in   the 


MEMOIR 


15 


Junior  year  of  his  collegiate  course,  containing,  perhaps,  a 
presentiment  of  the  shortness  of  his  own  life,  show  a  very 
active  religious  feeling.  The  poetry  with  which  it  con- 
cludes is  hardly  equal  to  his  subsequent  efforts,  yet  we  think 
it  a  note-worthy  psalm  of  his  life.  • 

"  This  day  am  I  twenty-five  years — one  quarter  of  a  century — old. 
Another  quarter  of  a  century  I  do  not  expect  to  see.  I  may  consider 
my  life  as  more  than  half  gone.  Were  it  but  half,  how  vain  a  thing 
is  life  !  What  have  I  done  yet  ?  What  have  I  attained  ?  How  am 
I  pleased  with  the  joys  of  life,  and  man's  earthly  portion  ?  Is  it  sat- 
isfying ?  JSTay,  emptiness  and  shadow,  if  I  may  judge  by  the  past ; 
but  if  by  the  future,  how  different !  Oh,  God  !  have  mercy  on  me 
for  Jesus'  sake,  and  forgive  my  sins  and  heal  all  my  backslidings. 
Give  me  true  wisdom^a  heavenly  mind  ;  help  me  to  improve  my 
time  as  it  flies,  and  to  live  to  Thy  glory ; — then,  whether  long  or  short, 
life  will  not  be  vain,  nor  shall  I  mourn  its  swift  departure. 


"  How  swiftly  fly 

My  passing  years ; 
And  time  gone  by. 

How  short 't  appears. 
The  moments  roll, 

The  hours  speed  on 
Without  control ; 

My  years  are  gone  ! 

"  Those  dreams  of  youth 
That  shone  so  bright, 
The  Hand  of  Truth 
Has  quenched  in  night. 


Yet  others  shine 

As  fair  as  they ; 
Nay,  more  divine — 

Of  lovelier  ray. 

"  Oh,  God  of  Light, 

My  footsteps  guide ; 
And  in  Thy  sight 

Let  me  abide. 
Let  all  my  powers 

And  life  be  Thine, 
Till  blissful  bowers 

Of  Heaven  are  mine." 


Other  effusions  of  his  muse  show  that  in  a  life  of  ease 
Mr.  S.  might  have  made  poetry  for  poetry's  sake.  But  in 
a  world  of  suffering  humanity  this  talent  was  specially  de- 
voted to  the  cause  of  the  oppressed.  Called  to  deliver  an 
address  before  the  Society  of  Alumni,  in  1845,  he  gave  a 
Poem  relating  to  the  history  of  one  of  those  heroes  whose 


16  MEMOIR. 

exploit  is  to  convert  themselves  from  things  into  men.  A 
few  extracts,  with  an  Epilogue  written  apparently  at  a 
later  date,  are  offered  to  the  reader. 

After  his  graduation  Mr.  S.  spent  a  year  in  teaching  in 
Burlington,  Iowa.  He  was  then  appointed  to  a  Tutorship 
in  his  Alma  Mater,  which  he  held  for  two  years.  His 
leisure  was  devoted  to  preparation  for  preaching  the  Gos- 
pel. During  the  greater  part  of  this  time  he  enjoyed  the 
intimate  friendship  of  Professor  Adams  and  his  family, 
who  recognized  in  him  "  a  pure  and  trusting  heart,  a  kind 
and  genial  temper,  a  spirit  of  rare  delicacy  and  fidelity  in 
all  the  duties  of  friendship."  They  speak  particularly  of 
his  love  for  children  ;  such  a  love  as  indicates  the  finest 
and  noblest  traits  of  character.  A  daughter,  then  seven 
or  eight  years  of  age,  writes  as  follows : 

"  I  remember  hearing  him  frequently  spoken  of,  at  the  time  he  "was 
in  college,  and  also  seeing  him  walk  "with  crutches.  Perhaps  I 
should  not  remember  him  in  college  days  at  all,  but  that  my  sympa- 
thies were  excited  by  his  lameness. 

"  I  never  had  a  kinder  or  warmer  friend  than  Mr.  Starr,  in  all  my 
childish  years.  But  he  was  like  no  other  friend;  and  even  then  I 
saw  the  dfference  as  plainly  as  I  do  now.  He  never  took  it  for  granted 
that  a  child  understood  onh^  nonsense,  or  baby-talk,  but  seemed 
rather  to  feel  that  the  soul,  unskilled  in  worldly  wisdom,  was  the 
more  capable  of  receiving  that  '  wisdom  which  cometh  from  above.' 
Not  that  he  talked  much,  or  often,  to  me,  of  my  special  obligations 
to  God,  taken  singly  and  individually ;  but  often,  very  often,  when 
talking  to  me  on  various  themes,  he  would  lead  me  to  the  love  of 
God,  His  goodness,  and  our  consequent  obligation  to  return  so  much 
love,  with  love.  When  speaking  of  the  wrongs  and  suffering  which 
are  the  lot  of  many  of  earth's  children,  he  would  gently  remind  me 
of  all  the  love  and  kindness  which  made  my  life  a  blessing  and  a 
joy,  instead  of  the  burden  of  woe  which  it  was  to  others.  And  when 
my  heart  glowed  with  gratitude  to  the  Giver  of  all  good,  he  would 
try  to  inspire  me  with  the  wish  and   earnest  purpose,  to   live  to 


MEMOIR.  17 

bless  my  fello"w  men ;  to  do  something  towards  alleviating  human 
misery. 

'•  He  was  in  the  habit  of  frequently  walking  with  me  in  the  college 
grove,  especially  in  early  spring,  when  the  first  flowers  of  the  year 
arose  from  their  snow-covered  tombs,  and  breathed  in  new  life  from 
the  cool  air;  and  when  the  birds  were  caroling  forth  their  joy  to  the 
genial  sunbeams,  from  the  half-clad  trees.  I  had  always  dearly 
loved  birds  and  flowers,  and  tinted  clouds ;  and  he  sympathized  so 
warmly  in  all  my  enthusiasm,  that  these  walks  were  a  peculiar 
pleasure  to  me. 

"  While  he  encouraged  and  stimulated  my  love  of  Nature,  and  her 
forms  of  varied  loveliness,  he  ever  sought  to  bring  home  to  my  very 
soul  the  truth,  that  all  the  glorious  and  beautiful  forms  of  earth 
were  but  the  visible  embodiment  of  Divine  Infinite  Love. 

"  My  eyes  fill  with  tears,  when  I  recall  his  constant  and  earnest 
endeavors  to  improve,  as  well  as  to  interest  and  amuse  me.  He  used 
to  read  with  me,  and  to  me,  generally  poetry,  thus  cultivating  and 
developing  a  taste  for  pure  and  beautiful  sentiment,  and  its  fitting 
expression  in  language. 

"  But  with  all  his  earnestness,  and  this  constant  recognition  of 
higher  and  nobler  things,  Mr.  S.  was  never  stern.  It  was  a  matter  of 
wonder  to  me  that  any  should  call  him  cold,  reserved  and  repellent. 
For  he  was,  as  /  knew  him,  in  his  daily  intercourse  in  our  home- 
circle,  ever  kind,  affectionate,  and  warmly  sympathizing.  Although 
always  ready,  if  there  seemed  a  way,  or  ra,ther,  always  yznrfmg-  away, 
to  instruct  as  well  as  amuse,  yet  no  one  could  frolic  with  us  as  he 
could.  My  brother,  two  years  old,  always  overflowing  with  life  and 
mischief,  was  exceedingly  attached  to  '  Mit  Tar,'  as  he  called  him  ,• 
and  there  was  never  a  merrier  pair  than  we  were  at  times.  ...  I 
never  knew  a  person  that  seemed  to  have  such  ready  sympathy  with, 
and  could  so  warmly  enter  into,  the  feelings  of  a  child. 

"  And  I  never  knew  one  that  seemed  to  have  a  more  delicate  appre- 
ciation of  the  slightest  kindness.  I  have  often  looked  with  wonder 
at  his  manifest  emotion,  at  little  kindnesses  and  attentions  which 
were  so  trivial  that  I  had  never  thought  them  such.  .  .  ,  My 
mother  knew  the  peculiarities  of  his  taste,  and  that  oftentimes  he 
went  without  meals  because  there  was  nothing  on  the  table  that  he 
could  eat,  and  he  would  not  complain  or  request  a  change.     So  I  was 

2* 


18  MEMOIR. 

often  the  bearer  of  some  little  home  charity  -which  mother  knew 
■would  be  pleasant  to  him.  I  have  often  seen  his  eyes  fill  with  tears 
at  some  such  little  remembrance.  These  visits  to  his  room  were  very 
pleasant  to  me ;  it  was  always  as  nice  and  orderly  as  a  lady's  parlor, 
and  its  kind. occupant  made  it  seem  to  me  one  of  the  pleasantest 
rooms  in  the  world. 

"  I  saw  and  appreciated  his  intense  sensitiveness,  with  a  child's 
quick  perception,  when  first  I  knew  him.  I  saw  that  many  things 
which  were  lightly  passed'  over  by  many,  distressed  him,  and  that  he 
suffered  far  more  than  most  persons.  Not  that  he  was  often  gloomy, 
or  sad,  or  that  he  complained :  but  he  suffered.  I  knew  it  then  ;  I 
know  now,  that  with  his  sensitive  and  exquisitely  delicate  nature,  his 
high  appreciation  and  ardent  love,  of  all  that  is  noble  and  good,  and 
his  consequent  scorn  and  loathmg  of  all  that  is  low  and  mean,  with 
his  intense  sympathy  with  suffering  and  wronged  humanity,  and  his 
fearless,  his  dauntless  spirit,  which  could  not  quail  before  the  eye  of 
man, — I  know  that  he  sufiered  while  he  lived;  that  he  could  not 
cease  to  suffer  while  earth  was  his  home  ;  and  I  feel  that  although 
earth  may  well  mourn  to  lose  such  a  spirit,  yet  for  him  we  may  not 
sorrow  ;  that  the  celestial  gates  have  opened  for  him  ;  that  he  is  where 
'  there  is  not  any  more  pain.'  " 

The  warm  emotions  which  appear  in  Mr.  S.'s  love  for 
children,  and  for  humanity,  explain  two  quahties  that 
mio'ht  otherwise  seem  inconsistent — earnestness  and  charity. 
Both  these  he  possessed  in  an  eminent  degree.  "  It  was  a 
necessity  of  his  nature,"  says  Prof.  A.,  "tor  be  true  to  him- 
self, true  to  the  solemn  convictions  of  his  own  mind.  There 
was  in  his  nature  not  the  slightest  aptitude  for  any  easy 
conformity  to  prevaihng  fashions  of  thought  or  belief. 
Neither  was  he  "  influenced  by  pride  of  independence  to 
dissent  from  prevailing  opinions.  His  points  of  dissent 
from  the  usually  received  orthodox  convictions  were  few, 
and  in  these  he  was  fearless  and  independent,  never  cap- 
tious and  quibbling.  Plis  manner  of  speaking  of  others 
was  uniformly  kind  and  charitable,  even  when  he  knew 


MEMOIR.  19 

them  to  be  inimical  to  himself.  I  never  knew  a  person 
who  seemed  to  take  more  charitable  views  of  the  charac- 
ter of  others,  than  he  did." 

He  was  licensed  to  preach  in  the  spring  of  1846,  and 
preached  his  first  sermon  at  Princeton,  Illinois,  from  Luke, 
xviii.  i. :   "  Men  ought  always  to  pray,  and  not  to  faint." 

He  spent  the  next  academical  year  in  attending  theolo- 
gical lectures  at  New-Haven.  Returning  to  Illinois,  and 
suffering  a  short  time  from  sickness,  he  preached  a  first 
sermon  in  Peoria,  October  10,  and  remained  in  this  place 
for  a  year. 

While  teaching  in  Burlington,  he  had  read  Punchard's 
History  of  Congregationalism,  and  "  found  that  Congrecra- 
tional  principles  were  in  exact  accordance  with  his  own 
ideas  of  Chur^ch  polity." 

The  Church  at  Peoria  became  Congregational  on  his 
going  there,  though,  he  remarks,  he  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  change.  To  urge  such  changes  would  not  in  fact  accord 
with  his  feelings,  or  with  the  primary  importance  which 
he  attached  to  the  distinctive  truths  of  the  gospel. 

In  July,  1848,  he  went  to  Jacksonville  to  be  examined 
for  ordination.  And  now  came  his  first  sore  trial,  as  a 
lover  of  Christ's  gospel.  Suspicions  of  heresy  were  enter- 
tained against  him — suspicions  most  potent,  because  even 
Protestants  so  little  understand  what  heresy  is,  and  are 
so  little  agreed  respecting  what  are  the  fundamentals  of 
Christian  truth.  We  will  give  the  account  of  the  examina 
tion  in  JVIr.  S.'s  own  words. 

"  Some  of  the  brethren  stumbled  very  hard  at  me,  because  I  held 
that  the  Holy  Spirit's  influences  are  of  the  nature  of  moral  suasion 
or  motion  (not  directly  on  the  will) :  some  thinking  that  I  was  'wise 
above  what  is  written,'  and  that  my  mind  was  of  a  dangerous  tenden- 
cy ;  because  I  did  not  believe  Christ  had  a  human  soul ;  because  I 


20  MEMOIR. 

believed  in  no  supernatural  call  to  the  ministry ;  and  one  good  bro- 
ther, because  I  did  not  give  a  full  account  of  religious  experience  in 
conversion,  &c.,  but  rather  stated  my  ideas  of  what  it  is  to  be  a 
Christian,  and  that  I  thus  tried  to  live. 

"  My  examination  on  the  nature  of  the  Spirit's  influence  in  regen- 
eration was  brief,  and  was  interrupted.  I  cannot  give  a  fail"  state- 
ment of  either  questions  or  answers.  I  stated  in  general  that  it  was 
a  moral  influence,  and  endeavored  to  express  this  idea  of  it,  that  it  is 
man  who  repents  or  converts  to  God,  and  the  Spirit  moves  him  to  do 

it;  'just  as  you,  Mr. ,  if  you  had  prevailed  on  a  drunkard  to 

abandon  his  cups,  would  say  that  you  had  turned  him  from  them — 
that  you  had  saved  him  from  intemperance.  But  in  comparing  the 
influence  which  the  Spirit  exerts,  to  that  which  a  man  may  exert 
over  another  man,  I  did  not  say  nor  mean  that  they  were  in  all 
respects  alike,  but  simply,  that  they  were  alike  in  some  important 
respects,  viz  :  that  they  were  both  moraZ  m^ZMmces.  But  being  inter- 
rupted and  confused  by  two  or  three  questioning  me  before  my  replies 
were  finished,  I  do  not  know  whether  I  fairly  completed  my  explana- 
tions or  not. 

"  Question.  Can  you  tell  us  your  experience  ?  the  ground  of  your 
hope  that  you  are  a  Christian  1  Answer.  I  found  myself  under  God's 
government  a  transgressor  of  His  law,  and  subject,  therefore,  to  its 
penalty.  God  offered  me  mercy  through  Christ ;  I  felt  that  there  was 
my  only  hope,  and  that  God's  words  to  me  were  worthy  of  confidence. 
I  determined  to  trust  myself  to  them,  and  to  act  upon  His  commands 
and  promises.  I  did  so  ;  and  in  doing  so  I  found  and  do  find  the  as- 
surance of  hope.  Question.  What  is  it  to  be  a  Christian?  Answer. 
It  is  to  love  God,  and  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Question. 
What  is  it  to  love  God  ?  Answer.  To  obey  Him.  "  He  that 
keepeth  my  commandments,  he  it  is  that  loveth  me."  Ques- 
tion. What  is  your  object  in  entering  the  ministry?  Ansiver. 
To  do  good.  Question.  Do  you  think  you  can  make  as  much  money 
at  it  as  at  some  other  employment?  Answer.  I  don't  know  but  I 
can.  I  should  never  expect  to  make  money  at  any  thing.  I  do  not 
by  preaching.  .  .  .  Question.  Do  you  think  that  Christians  are 
called  of  God  to  t^.e  work  of  the  ministry  ?  That  you  have  a  call  ? 
Answer.  I  do.  Question.  What  is  a  call  ?  When  is  a  man  called 
to  the  ministry  ?  Answer.  When  he  has  reason  to  think  he  can  do 
more  good  in  that  than  in  any  other  way.     A  call  to  the  ministry  is 


MEMOIR.  21 

the  opportunity  and  means  to  do  most  good  in  it.  To  do  the  most 
good  he  can  is  the  duty  of  every  Christian  ;  and  when  God  shows  a 
man  that  he  can  do  the  most  good  in  the  ministry,  (or  gives  him  the 
means  to  do  so.)  that  is  a  call.  Question.  Can  you  express  in  the 
language  of  Paul  what  should  be  the  Christian  minister's  animating 
principle  ?  Would  you  say :  '  The  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us  ? 
Answer.  I  have  long  thought  that  that  sentence  expresses  what  was 
to  a  most  remarkable  degree  the  spirit  that  animated  Paul,  and  that 
is  the  most  powerful  spring  of  action  that  can  animate  every  Chris- 
tian in  doing  good.  Question.  If  a  Christian  should  be  unwilling  to 
deny  himself  for  Christ,  would  it  be  his  duty  to  preach  the  Gospel  ? 
Answer.  Yes  !  and  to  deny  himself  also.  Refusing  to  do  one  duty 
does  not  remove  the  other.  This  is  not  saying  that  it  does  not  unfit 
hiiA  for  it.  Question.  But  would  a  man  who  is  thus  unwilling  be  apt 
to  do  much  good  in  the  ministry  ?  Answer.  No  ;  he  might  do  more 
harm  than  good.  But  he  ought  to  be  willing  to  deny  himself,  and  also 
to  preach  the  Gospel." 

Here  are  views  of  the  Gospel  which  vindicate  Mr.  Starr's 
right  to  preach  it,  whatever  his  errors  may  have  been  re- 
specting the  philosophy  of  it.  But,  by  the  most  strenuous 
eiForts  of  his  friends  who  knew  him  best,  he  was  barely- 
saved  from  rejection,  and  from  all  the  calamities  that  might 
have  resulted  therefrom,  either  to  himself  or  in  his  loss  to 
the  Gospel  work.  His  own  feelings,  on  this  occasion,  are 
told  as  follows  : 

"  I  owe  it  mainly,  under  God,  to  Mr.  Turner,  my  good  and  dear 
friend,  that  I  was  not  cast  off  with  a  brand  upon  my  name  by  that 
council,  which,  if  it  had  been  done,  where  would  I  now  have  been  1 
It  would  have  had,  I  believe,  a  very  depressing  influence  upon  me,  if 
it  had  not  utterly  turned  the  current  of  my  life  into  another  channel. 
My  health  was  poor,  my  condition  necessitous,  my  sympathies  alto- 
gether with  the  Orthodox  (as  they  now  are,  so  far  as  respects  vital 
piety) ,  and  I  see  not  but  that  a  rejection  by  them  would  have  been 
very  calamitous.  But  I  went  to  the  examination  with  very  little 
fear,  and  the  only  ground  on  which  I  thought  there  was  cause  of 
fear  was  not  touched  at  all.  I  had  doubts  about  the  full  inspiration 
of  the  Scriptures,  or  at  least  about  what  inspiration  implies  ;  yet  on 


22  MEMOIR. 

this  subject, — it  seemed  to  me,  afterward,  by  the  directing  Proyidence 
of  God  for  me, — not  one  question  was  asked  me." 

Whatever  may  have  been  Mr.  Starr's  view  of  inspira- 
tion, it  never  hindered  his  most  devout  and  prayerful  study 
of  the  Scriptures,  nor  his  faith  in  them  as  containing  the 
words  of  eternal  life,  and  the  only  hope  of  a  fallen  race. 
And  his  diflS.culties  on  this  subject  were  only  temporary ; 
such,  perhaps,  as  are  felt  by  multitudes,,  when  they  first 
discover  points  of  resemblance  between  the  ecstasy  of  the 
poet  and  that  of  the  prophet,  and  that  the  various  books 
of  the  Bible  indicate  the  various  mental  characters  of  the 
inspired  penmen.  He  afterwards  expressed  himself  as  sat- 
isfied with  the  common  view,  that  the  inspiration  which 
gave  the  Bible  to  man  is  special  and  peculiar. 

His  thorough  integrity  in  the  gratitude  he  expresses  for 
the  fact  that  his  doubts  were  not  discovered,  will  appear 
from  subsequent  passages  of  his  journal.  The  dear  friend 
to  whom  he  alludes  thus  describes  the  scene  : 

"  His  mother  was  a  poor  widow,  who  went  without  many  necessa- 
ries of  life,  (as  we  deem  them,)  that  she  might  present  this  son,  an 
educated  offering,  to  the  cause  of  humanity.  He  was  dutiful,  prayer- 
ful, daily  Christian  and  devout,  as  well  as  eminently  gifted  and  tal- 
ented, almost  above  all  others  that  ever  graduated  at  his  Alma  Mater. 
As  son,  student,  teacher,  tutor,  and  member  of  the  Church  of  Christ, 
no  one  ever  knew  him  to  neglect  either  a  filial,  or  intellectual,  or 
Christian  duty,  which  it  was  in  his  power  to  perform.  At  all  the 
meetings  and  prayers  of  the  Church  he  was  always  present,  inter- 
ested and  active.  His  sole  ambition  was  to  live  for  knowledge,  for 
truth,  and  for  Christ ;  though  by  these  statements  I  do  not,  of  course, 
intend  to  absolve  him  from  those  ordinary  and  universal  infirmities  of 
manner  or  of  temperament  common  to  humanity.  In  other  words, 
I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  Mr.  S.  was  perfect  as  Christ  was,  but 
that  he  was  a  truly  and  eminently  devoted  and  gifted  Christian  man. 

"  Well,  after  this  ten  long  years  of  prayer  and  struggle,  day  and 
night,  of  this  widowed  mother  and  lier  devoted  son,  his  education  is 


MEMOIR.  23 

completed,  and,  with  a  heart  full  of  joy  and  high  hope,  this  youth 
presents  himself  for  license  and  approval — before  whom  or  what  ?  a 
Caesar?  a  Pope?  No,  but  before  a  so-called  Protestant  Christian 
power,  that  almost  every  Sabbath,  and  every  prayer-meeting  for  the 
whole  ten  years,  had  been  exhorting  him  and  others  to  this  special 
service  of  Christ,  deploring  the  destitutions  of  the  West  and  of  the 
world,  the  great  want  of  talented  and  pious  men  in  the  ministry,  and 
urging  such  poor  widows  as  Starr's  mother  to  consecrate  their  sons 
to  the  work,  to  contribute  their  mites,  earned  by  midnight  toil,  to 
Education  and  other  Societies,  to  raise  up  and  educate  such  men. 

"  And  now,  when  this  work  is  done,  and  God  knows  as  hardly  done 
as  it  usually  falls  to  the  lot  of  mortals  to  do  it,  and  this  son  of  this 
widowed  mother  was  before  them,  what  did  this  professedly  Prctest- 
and  Christian  power  do  ?  Why,  of  course,  you  will  say,  it  thanked 
God,  praised  Christ,  blessed  the  mother  and  the  son,  and  sent  him 
forth  with  joy  to  his  field  of  labor,  praying  the  Father  to  strengthen 
all  in  him  that  was  right,  and  pure,  and  good,  and  His  Holy  Spirit  to 
purge  and  dispel  whatever  there  still  might  be  of  error  or  evil, — that 
great  good  and  manifold  glory  and  blessing  might  through  him  come 
to  God  and  man.  Sure,  this  was  all  that,  as  Christian  men,  they 
could  do  in  such  a  case. 

"  No  such  thing.  On  the  contrary,  finding  his  modes  of  thought 
and  speech  differed  a  little  from  their  own,  they  endeavored  to  en- 
snare him  on  the  dogmas  of  their  creed,  about  'substances,'  and 
'  essences,'  and  '  Trinities,'  and  '  derivations,'  and  '  equalities,'  and 
'  substitutions,'  and  '  decrees,'  and  '  elections,'  and  '  perseverances,' 
and  '  outward  faiths,'  and '  intellectual  faiths,'  and '  saving  faiths,'  and 
no  one  can  tell  how  many  other  faiths  and  follies  not  found  in  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  or  any  other  saying  of  Jesus  or  His  Apostles. 
And  because  he  proved  more  than  a  match  for  them  all  on  these 
subtleties,  they  attempted  to  send  him  forth  to  the  world,  after  his 
ten  years  of  toil,  black-balled  and  disgraced ;  not  even  in  pretence 
because  he  was  deficient  either  in  learning,  talent  or  piety ,"5^  but,  for- 
sooth, because  in  these  inane  dogmas  he  could  not  say  '  Shibboleth ' 
exactly  with  them.  They,  practically,  cared  not  at  all  for  the  ad- 
mitted fact  that  Christ  had  received  him,  inasmuch  as  in  these 
dogmas  he  '  followed  not  with  them.'  And  in  despite  of  the  wants  of 
the  Church,  and  all  this  outlay  foi  an  education  that  totally  unfitted 
him  for  any  other  business,  (even  if  he  could  have  brought  his  heart 

*  For  this  question  did  not  remain  long  unsettled. 


^4  MEMOIR. 

into  it,)  this  power  Tvould  then  have  turned  him  out  upon  the  world, 
virtually  blackened,  silenced,  disgraced  and  beggared,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  strenuous  exertions  of  a  few  personal  friends.  Yet  enough 
was  said  and  done  to  make  Brother  Starr  a  marked  and  suspected 
man.  And  this  same  Protestant  power  did  not  fail  to  molest  him 
with  its  invisible  arts,  wherever  he  went,  whether  far  or  near.  I  saw, 
with  great  grief,  that  this  practical  persecution  was  acting,  and  must 
continue  to  act,  disastrously,  if  not  fatally,  upon  a  nature  so  frail  and 
sensitive  as  his,  the  last  time  I  was  at  his  house,  a  short  time  before 
his  death." 

Mr.  Starr  was  ordained  on  Sunday,  July  16th,  the  right 
hand  of  fellowship  given  by  the  friend  who  sympathi2red 
so  deeply  with  him  in  his  peculiar  trials. 

On  his  return  to  Peoria  he  suffered  an  attack  of  his  old 
complaint,  and,  taking  cold  in  bathing  his  limb  in  warm 
water,  he  was  very  ill  for  several  weeks.  He  mentions, 
with  gratitude,  the  gratuitous  services  and  kindness  of  Dr. 
Dickinson  and  his  wife,  to  himself,  and  to  his  mother  during 
a  period  of  sickness. 

Leaving  Peoria  at  the  close  of  the  year  for  which  he  had 
engaged,  he  preached  at  Griggsville,  October  15th,  and 
engaged  here  for  a  year.  In  the  middle  of  January  he  took 
cold  while  visiting  his  people,  and  was  brought  down  with 
typhoid  fever.  His  sickness  continued  nearly  three  months, 
and  his  hopes  of  a  revival,  which  seemed  to  have  really 
begun,  were  frustrated. 

It  was  in  this  place  that  Mr.  S  began  and  completed 
his  series  of  discourses  on  "  Faith,'"  which  are  here  offered 
to  the  public.  The  first  was  preached  September  16, 
1849,  and  the  last,  August  25,  1850.  Here  also  he  car- 
ried out  his  views  of  Congr'egational  polity,  by  uniting  with 
the  church  to  which  he  ministered,  November  4,  1849. 

On  Tuesday,  March  26,  1850,  Mr.   S.  was  united  in 


MEMOIR.  25 

marriage  to  Miss  Lucy  Elizabeth  Collins,  daughter  of 
Captain  James  A.  Collins,  of  Griggsville.  Captain  C. 
had  been  at  this  time  about  six  years  absent  at  sea,  return- 
ing in  December  following. 

The  account  already  given  of  Mr.  S.'s  social  character, 
shows  that  nothing  was  wanting  on  his  part  to  make  this 
union  a  happy  one  ;  and  he  found  in  the  wife  of  his  choice 
all  that  he  could  desire,  to  complete  the  varied  joys  and  to 
assuage  the  many  sorrows  of  his  life.  She  sympathized 
with  all  his  free  and  independent  views,  and  with  all  his 
most  rehgious  and  most  delicate  feelings.  She  was  the 
usual  companion  of  his  pastoral  labors,  and  was  ardently 
devoted  to  his  personal  comfort  and  welfare.  She  cheered 
him  by  her  own  courage^  and  her  unwavering  faith  in  that 
power  which  can  overrule  all  events  for  good  to  those  who 
trust  in  Him.  -      L^^mJu^ 

For  reasons  which,  in  their  beginnings,  would  have  fe»nd 
another  familiar  cliapter  of  Shady  Side  literature,  but 
which  grew  into  the  dangerous  rumor  of  heresy,  Mr.  S., 
after  being  detained  a  few  months  by  the  entreaties  of 
friends,  at  length,  in  April  1851,  left  Griggsville.  The 
unpleasant  feeling  that  led  to  this  result  did  not,  however, 
long  survive  his  departure  ;  and  his  subsequent  visits  to 
the  place  were  occasions  of  delight. 

In  August  of  the  same  year,  he  preached  in  Elgin,  and 
was  engaged  for  six  months.  He  had  been  there  but  a 
few  weeks  when  rumors  of  heresy  began  to  be  heard ;  first 
by  letter  to  the  former  pastor  of  the  church,  from  a  mem- 
ber of  the  council  by  which  he  was  ordained,  and  after- 
wards by  report  from  a  person  who  assisted  him  on  a  Com- 
munion occasion,  to  a  prominent  minister.  He  was  now 
charged  unawares  with  "  Bushnellism,"   and  with  "Uni- 


26  MEMOIR. 

tarianism."  He  was  apprised  of  these  charges  by  the 
former  pastor,  who  became  satisfied  that  they  were  un- 
founded. Upon  the  charge  of  Bushnellism,  Mr.  S.  remarks, 
it  "is  totally  false.  When  I  was  examined  for  ordination 
I  had  not  read  a  word  of  Dr.  Bushnell's  theological  views; 
and  now  having  read  them,  I  do  not  agree  with  them." 

The  charge  of  Unitarianism  perhaps  arose  from  two 
facts.  First;  he  supposed  that  a  Unitarian  might  truly 
believe  in  and  preach  Christ,  as  the  only  Saviour  of  man- 
kind. In  this  view  he  invited  the  Rev.  Ephraim  Nute,  of 
Scituate,  Massachusetts,  to  his  pulpit  in  Griggsville,  and 
remarks  in  his  journal  that  he  visited  him  at  his  friend's  ; 
"was  much  pleased  ;  appears  evangelical  and  truly  pious." 
Again,  in  preaching  on  the  Atonement,  Mr.  S.  dwelt  more 
than  many  others  on  the  sutFerings  of  Christ,  as  a  means 
of  producing  repentance.  But  so  far  was  he  from  deny- 
ing the  word  of  Christ  to  be  a  ground  of  Salvation,  that 
on  one  occasion,  the  writer  recollects  his  comparing  the 
Atonement,  as  a  ground  of  pardon,  to  the  light  of  the  sun, 
without  which,  repentance  could  no  more  avail  than  the 
moon  can  shine  by  its  own  light. 

But  his  notes  on  the  subject  of  the  Atonement,  in  which 
he  has  expressed  his  views  most  fully  and  freely,  will  vindi- 
cate the  integrity  of  his  faith  in  Christ  beyond  question. 
Remarking  that  his  views  on  this  subject  had  become  some- 
what modified,  or  at  least  more  complete,"  he  says : 

"  Now  it  seems  to  me  possible  for  a  Governor  (in  any  and  all  good 
governments,  divine  or  human)  to  grant  to  one  high  in  dignity  and 
having  sufficient  claims  upon  the  government,  the  pardon  of  a  repent- 
ant subject  who  has  sinned,  without  at  all  relaxing  the  sacredness, 
the  imperativeness  of  the  law  as  the  rule  of  the  government.  But 
Christ,  who  is  sufl&ciently  high  in  dignity,  being  the  eternal  and  '  only 
begotten'  Son  of  God,  by  what  he  has  accomplisJied  for  the  government 


MEMOIR.  27 

of  God  in  bringing  men  to  repentance,  in  making  them  obedient  in- 
stead of  rebellious  subjects,  and  by  ivhat  he  has  suffered  in  so  doing, 
has  such  a  claim  upon  the  government  of  God,  and  can  plead  his 
own  sufferings  to  take  the  place  of  those  due  to  the  sinner.''  And 
again  :  '•  The  sufferings  "which  Christ's  work  for  the  government  of 
God  involved,  entitle  Him  to  the  privilege  of  intercession  for  such  as 
repent ;  and  it  must  have  been,  in  part,  because  it  would  do  so  (it 
would  seem) ,  that  He  undertook  that  work.  Perhaps  if  He  had  not 
suffered.  His  work  alone  would  not  so  have  entitled  Him.  But  having 
suffered.  He  is  entitled  to  say :  Let  my  suffering  go  for  the  suffering 
due  by  the  law  to  the  sinner.  The  sinner  now  can  plead  what  Christ 
has  done  and  suffered  for  the  government  of  God  in  his  behalf.  By 
what  Christ  has  suffered,  He  has,  as  it  were,  paid  the  penalty  of  the 
law,  and  by  what  He  has  done  He  has  gotten  the  right  to  plead  it  in 
the  sinner's  behalf.  It  thus  becomes  safe  for  God  to  pardon  for  Christ's 
sake,  and  in  His  name,  while  otherwise  it  would  not  have  been  safe  ; 
the  sacredness,  the  imperativeness  of  the  law  as  God's  rule  for  His 
creatures  would  not  have  been  maintained.  Considered  in  this  light, 
Christ's  sufferings  constitute  His  earthly  life  and  death  a  sacrifice  for 
our  sins.  God  [knew]  that  they  would  have  this  efficacy  of  aton- 
ing for  sin,  and  therefore  designed  that  they  should  so  atone.  And 
His  death,  as  the  crowning  act  of  all,  may  be  taken  to  express  the 
w^hole  (even  as  His  resurrection  is  sometimes  taken  to  embrace  His 
whole  doctrine,  because  it  sealed  it  all.)  His  death,  moreover,  was 
designed  as  being  a  peculiar  appropriate  form  of  his  suffering,  to 
stand  for  the  sinner's  doom.  Thus  was  His  '  blood  shed  for  the  remis- 
sion of  sins,'  as  one  and  a  most  important  end,  though  not  the  whole." 

Of  the  necessity  of  Christ's  suffering,  Mr.  S.  speaks  more 
fully  in  the  Tenth  of  the  following  Discourses,  which  might 
alone  decide  the  present  question. 

That  he  discarded  all  mercantile  views  of  the  Atone- 
ment, by  which  the  very  idea  of  forgiveness  is  annulled, 
will  hardly  be  urged  as  an  error.  And  respecting  the 
opinion  once  before  charged  against  him,  that  Christ  had 
not  a  distinct  human  soul,  it  should  not  be  inferred  that 
he  denied  either  Christ's  divinity  or  his  humanity.     God 


28  MEMOIR. 

became  Immanuel  in  Christ,  he  might  say,  strictly,  in  an 
Incarnation,  (John  i.  14;  Rom.  i.  3,  4.   1  Tim.  iii.  16.) 

With  one  of  the  persons  concerned  in  these  rumors,  he 
afterwards  had  an  interview^  in  which,  sajs  Mr.  S.,  "he 
acknowledged  his  fault,  and  I  endeavored  to  remove  his 
prejudices,  whereupon  our  diiFerences  were  settled,  I  trust 
to  most  hearty  good  will. "  From  another  person  he  sought 
explanation  by  letter,  but  received  no  reply. 

In  January,  1852,  he  applied  for  admission  to  the  Fox 
River  Conofresfational  Union.  Here  he  encountered  the 
rumors  we  have  named,  with  success  ;  in  that  one  vote  alone 
was  given  against  him.     In  his  journal  he  says : — 

"  I  have  reason  to  acknowledge  the  goodness  of  God,  who  turned 
aside  the  minds  of  my  examiners  from  those  points  wherein  their 
prejudices  or  views  would  have  disallowed  me;  or  enabled  me, 
wherein  they  did  touch  any  of  them,  to  show  my  essential  agreement, 
without  their  perceiving  the  disagreement;  and  who  also,  by  His 
grace  in  me  and  in  them,  turned  back  the  prejudices  with  which 
they  apparently  began  their  examination,  and  awakened  favorable 
feelings. 

"  I  was  much  gratified  to  learn,  on  my  return,  and  before  the  vota 
of  the  Union  was  known,  that  though  there  had  been  some  apprehen- 
sions in  the  minds  of  many  of  the  Church,  as  to  how  the  Union  would 
receive  me,  there  was  much  disposition  to  independence  of  judgment, 
and  to  confidence  in  me  in  any  event." 

On  the  14th  of  April  following,  he  was  installed  as  pastor 
of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Elgin,  where  he  remained 
until  his  death.  The  sermon  was  preached  by  the  former 
pastor.  Rev.  N.  C.  Clark.  "  The  exercises,"  he  says, 
"  interested  my  feelings  deeply,  and  my  heart  was  much 
drawn  out  in  love  to  my  brethren  in  the  ministry." 

We  have  indicated  some  of  the  points  in  which  Mr.  S. 
dissented  from  the  prevalent  opinions,  perhaps  all  of  them. 


MEMOIR.  29 

Whatever  they  were,  we  know  that  he  regarded  himself  as 
dissenting  only  in  speculative  matters — forms  of  divine  na- 
ture, and  modes  of  divine  economy  and  influence,  which 
like  the  hidden  causes  of  the  mind,  are  no  part  of  man's 
necessary  faith — while  his  entire  theology  brought  him  to 
the  same  practical  results  in  which  all  Christians  are  agreed. 
As  a  thinker,  he  simply  craved  the  liberty  of  coming  to 
Christ  by  the  laws  of  his  own  mind,  compelling  no  other 
one  to  follow  the  same  path,  but  glad  to  worship  and  to 
learn  of  Christ,  with  all  his  disciples,  by  whatsoever  way 
they  had  come  to  bow  before  Him.  Giving  to  Christ  in 
all  things  the  preeminence,  he  hoped  that  jninor  differences, 
inseparable  from  the  lot  of  humanity,  might  be  allowed. 
But  he  was  gi-ieved  to  find  that  prevalent  theologic  methods 
were  deen.ed  essential  to  the  integrity  of  the  Gospel,  and 
that  the  differences  which  he  held  subordinate,  were  con- 
sidered by  others  serious,  if  not  fatal.  Hence  the  conflict, 
of  which,  under  the  date  of  his  ordination,  he  speaks  as 
follows  : 

''  My  mind  has  been  considerably  agitated,  for  some  time  past,  on 
the  subject  of  my  theological  position.  When  I  began  my  course  I 
had  no  thoughts  of  concealment  of  any  of  my  views,  and  my  frank- 
ness soon  brought  me  into  trouble.  By  the  advice  of  friends  and  my 
own  reflections,  I  became  convinced  that  it  was  best  I  should  keep 
to  myself,  for  the  present,  the  views  I  entertain,  which  are  different 
from  those  of  my  brethren  generally,  and  labor  on  with  those  vital 
truths  in  which  we  are  agreed,  and  which  are  indeed  the  chief  things. 
These  are,  the  depravity  of  man,  his  exposure  to  everlasting  punish- 
ment, the  necessity  of  a  radical  change  of  character  to  salvation, 
the  Deity  and  atonement  of  Christ,  and  the  necessary  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  But  the  fact  that  my  brethren  make  speculative  points 
on  which  we  differ,  of  so  much  importance  in  their  ecclesiastical  rela- 
tions, obliges  me  to  use  a  sort  of  craft  m  the  statement  of  my  views, 
which  is  not  congenial  to  my  heart.     I  can  so  present  the  essential 


30  MEMOIR. 

practical  elements  of  my  views  as  to  cover  the  grouni  which  they 
think  necessary,  while  yet  I  do  not  imply  certain  other  sj^eculative 
ideas  whicL  they  think  I  do.  The  fault  of  this,  or  this  misconception 
of  my  views,  is  not  to  te  charged  to  me ;  but  to  them,  as  having  im- 
properly mingled  such  speculative  elements  with  the  practical,  as 
equally  necessary.  Still,  though  I  need  not  blame  myself  for  this 
matter,  the  thought  that  they  are  mistaken,  deceived,  as  to  my  agree- 
ment with  them  on  certain  points  which  they  consider  essential, 
(though  I  feel  assured  they  are  not.)  troubles  me.  It  pains  me  to 
think  I  am  not  just  what  they  think  I  am,  and  that  perhaps  they  will 
one  day  be  grieved  by  discovering  it.  And  there  is  another  source 
of  trouble  which  has  in  it  some  irritating  quality.  It  is  the  fact  that 
I  cannot  speak  out  my  thoughts  like  a  man ;  that  a  necessity  is 
cloaked  about  me,  under  which  it  is  diflBcult  to  maintain  a  true  and 
manly  independence  of  character.  It  renders  more  powerful  the  natu- 
ral propensity  of  my  emotive  character,  to  lean  upon  and  follow 
others,  and  makes  much  more  difficult  that  which  I  feel  to  be  duty, 
and  to  be  demanded  by  a  proper  regard  for  the  gifts  of  mind  God  has 
given  me ;  namely,  to  be  a  bold  and  candid  advocate  of  whatsoever 
truth  I  learn. 

'*  I  know  not  what  to  do ;  but  I  trust  God  will  teach  me  in  His 
Providence. 

"  I  feel  attached  to  this  Church  and  people,  and  have  great  reason 
for  thankfulness  concerning  the  pleasantness  of  my  situation.  I  have 
some  love,  also,  for  my  work  here — to  labor  in  the  same  spirit  and 
with  the  same  great  truths  with  which  my  brethren  labor,  for  the  sal- 
vation of  souls  and  the  honor  of  Christ.  But  it  is  hard  to  bear 
the  yoke  of  bondage  to  ecclesiastical  tyranny  and  to  the  inventions 
of  men. 

"  I  record  it  here,  if  I  should  never  live  to  make  a  louder  and  more 
powerful  protest  to  the  world,  that  while  desiring  to  preach  the  great 
truth,  with  all  the  powers  I  have,  that '  Christ  came  into  the  world  to 
save  sinners,'  I  am  bound  in  cruel  chains  by  the  intolerance  of  the 
Protestant  Evangelical  Church,  which  proclaims  the  right  of  private 
judgment  as  its  fundamental  principle,  but  which  utterly  denies  the 
right  to  me,  and  to  every  one  of  its  members.  I  can  only  preach  the 
truth,  by  submitting  to  its  judgment  in  other  matters;  if  I  do  not 
submit  I  shall  be  disallowed  in  its  ranks,  and  persecuted  with  all  the 


MEMOIR.  31 

power  it  has  to  exert, — with  excommunication,  and  reproach,  as  an 
outcast  from  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  an  enemy  of  God. 

"  May  God  help  me  to  be  patient,  till  He  shall  work  deliverance." 

Such  feelings,  in  a  heart  so  buoyant  as  Mr.  S.'s,  could 
not  always  be  expressed  in  Jeremiads.  He  afterwards  ad- 
dressed letters  to  a  person  of  whose  sympathy  he  felt  sure, 
in  which  he  unburdens  his  heart.     This  friend  writes: 

"  "Wiey^eel  at  liberty  to  publish  them.  No  biography  of  a  religious 
man  ought  to  be  written  which  is  not  thoroughly  out-spoken.  It  is 
these  concealed,  half  biographies  of  good  men,  which  have  made  the 
world  believe  the  whole  matter  of  religious  biography  such  a  sham. 
No  one  wants  to  know  Mr.  S..  or  any  other  man,  as  he  may  be  when 
beatified ;  but  as  he  was  here^  with  his  struggles,  and  doubts,  and 
fears,  and  all.  His  letters  showed  this  nobly.  As  I  understood,  his 
doubts  were  not  as  to  particular  doctrines,  but  as  to  the  general  tone 
of  liberality  in  our  Church,  he  not  believing  in  such  close  creeds,  &c.j 
as  others  do." 

Of  one  of  these  letters  Mr.  S.  retained  the  following 


o 


copy: 


"  Dear  Sir  :  The  reading  of  your  late  article  in  the  Independent^ 
entitled  '  Modern  Scepticism,'  impels  me,  though  a  total  stranger,  to 
this  liberty  of  addressing  you.  This  is  a  liberty  which,  in  such  cir- 
cumstances, I  never  used  before  with  any  one,  and  certainly  an  act 
in  which  I  am,  constitutionally,  indisposed  to  engage  ;  but  you  attract 
me  too  strongly  for  my  retiracy  of  disposition  to  resist.  There  is, 
certainly,  some  sympathy  between  us.  I  was  never  so  drawn  before. 
I  feel  as  if  I  must  have  the  pleasure  of  some  acquaintance  with  you, 
and  thus  make  my  suit. 

"  From  the  very  first  of  your  communications  to  the  Independent, 
of  which  I  have  any  knowledge,  I  have  i'elt  this  impulse.  When  I 
perceived  in  your  '  Pedestrian  ^  letters,  especially  when  writing  on 
Germany,  the  astonishing  iact  that  you  believed  there  could  be  some- 
thing good,  some  piety  even  (!)  outside  of  Puritan  ideas,  some  religion 
without  Ka&teni  orthodoxy,  '  my  heart  leaped  up,'  as  though  I  did 
behold  •  a  rainbow  in  the  sky.'     '  "Who  is  this,'  you  ask,  '  that  talks 


32  MEMOIR. 

thus  ?  Some  Unitarian  infidel,  or  what  not  V  Sir,  I  am  a  Congrega- 
tional minister,  believed  to  be  '  sound  in  the  faith '  by  the  pious 
people  to  whom  I  preach,  (who  look  more  at  practical  Scriptural 
truth  than  at  the  human  philosophy  of  it.)  and  loved  by  them,  but 
looked  at  with  suspicion  by  some  of  the  Reverendi,  especially  Pres- 
byterians.    Let  me  go  on. 

'•'  Well,  from  time  to  time,  as  your  breadth  of  view  and  the  sim- 
plicity of  your  Christian  idea  exhibited  themselves  to  me,  my  heart 
was  drawn  toward  you,  and  my  hopes  raised.     .     .     . 

"  I  desire,  if  possible,  some  interchange  of  thought,  some  consulta- 
tion. Men  who  answer  to  my  sentiments  as  you  do,  are  rare  to  meet, 
at  least  in  the  ministry.  Sectarianism,  bigotry,  and  formalism  have 
their  forces  combined  and  organized,  and  no  man  single-handed  can 
make  head  against  them.  We  shall  be  crushed  and  trampled  under 
foot  in  the  charge,  and  the  cry  of  heretic^  infidel^  will  be  our  requiem. 
If  we  desire  to  accomplish  any  thing  for  a  freer  and  purer  Christi- 
anity, we  must  reach  out  our  hands  to  one  another.  So  at  least  I 
begin  to  feel.  I  cannot  altogether  claim  likeness  to  yourself  Your 
peculiar  talent  for  mixing  with  men,  and  seeing  them  and  working 
amongst  them,  I  have  not.  I  am,  rather,  a  student,  diffident  and  re- 
tired. But  my  soul  beams  with  a  hatred  of  tyranny,  with  a  love  of 
liberty  and  man.  Liberty  for  myself  I  must  have,  or  die  self-consumed; 
and  I  desire  for  others  no  less.  My  ideas  are  not  cast  in  the  same 
mould  with  all  the  Fathers.  I  do  believe  that  theology  is  a  legitimate 
ground  for  free  inquiry.  I  scorn  the  assumption  that  those  who  came 
first,  in  darkness  too,  had  the  right  to  prescribe  what  is  Scripture  and 
truth  to  all  time  to  come.  When  inspired  by  great  truths,  my  soul 
is  bold  as  a  lion,  and  diffidence  is  forgot.  I  long  to  do  battle  for 
freedom,  truth,  progress — for  a  pure  Gospel ;  and  this  I  will  do  if  the 
Lord  point  out  the  way  and  give  needed  strength.  If  it  were  not  for 
the  ardor  of  my  feelings,  I  should  faint  sometimes  when  I  see  how 
bigotry  is  fortified  and  its  bands  trained.  My  hope  is  sustained  only 
by  the  belief  that  Providence  is  working  with  a  power  which  cannot 
be  resisted.  Our  equal  institutions,  and  the  ideas  of  the  age,  are 
stronger  to  educate  than  human  creeds.  The  hootings  of  theological 
owls  will  not  always  strike  terror  to  men's  hearts.  Surely  '  the  Lord 
reigns  ;  let  the  earth  rejoice.' 

"  Yet  there  is  reason  enough,  when  looking  at  the  condition  of  the 
Church,  to  groan  and  weep.     But  this  I  must  do  all  alone,  for  I  sel- 


MEMOIR.  33 

dom  find  oue  to  lament  with  me.  May  I  not  ask  sympathy  from  you, 
my  brother  ?  And  if  there  are  more  who  feel  as  I  do,  can  we  not  by 
some  means  know  each  other,  and  prepare  ourselves  to  act  together 
and  sustain  each  other? 

"  With  these  sentiments  in  your  last  communication — with  the  great 
truths  here  pointed  at — I  deeply  sympathize  : '  The  curse  of  the  Ameri- 
can mind,  as  we  believe,  has  been  the  aspect  presented  in  a  portion 
of  our  Theology  of  Deity.'  '  The  grand  peculiarity  of  Christ's  in- 
structions, and  of  Paul's — the  elevation  of  character  ...  is 
mostly  lost  sight  of.'  '  It  is  not  life,  spirit,  which  tests  the  Christian, 
but/orms,  days^  ordinances^  creeds.'  '  The  entangling  scientific  state- 
ments— not  the  expression  of  the  Bible  (nor  its  teachings  either,  always)  — 
the  fabric  of  the  schools,  are  presented  as  Christianity,  to  be  sworn  to 
ere  one  can  join  those  loho  love  Christy  &fc. ;  and  most  of  all,  before  oue 
can  be  allowed  to  preach  in  His  name.' 

''  With  views  such  as  these,  I  find  myself  painfully  situated.  Bigotry 
is  all  around  me.  It  is  thought  there  is  more  liberty  at  the  West 
than  at  the  East.  With  the  people  perhaps  it  is  so.  Yet  with  the 
ministry  I  should  think  it  the  reverse,  though  I  cannot  speak  from 
much  acquaintance  with  the  East.  But  the  handle  of  our  pap-spoon 
is  at  the  East,  and  so  we  have  to  turn  our  faces  that  way  to  get  the 
bowl  into  our  mouths.  This  makes  us  wonderfully  orthodox.  We 
must  stand  so  straight  as  to  lean  back.  Add  to  this  the  cry  of  loose- 
ness, from  the  Presbyterians,  and  we  drive  things  tight  enough. 

"Witness     .     .     .     the  Albany  Convention. 

"  Would  I  had  been  there.  I  would  have  stood  up  and  told  cer- 
tain of  them  there  was  one  Congregationalist  at  the  West  who  would 
not  ask  their  right  hand  of  fellowship  if  they  did  not  want  to  give  it 
— but  they  might  glove  it  from  base  common  air  and  keep  it  to  them- 
selves. 

"  But  how  in  the  world  do  you  expect,  my  brother,  to  get  license 
to  preach  in  this  free  country  1  You  are  preparing  to  preach,  are 
you  not  ?  I  hope  you  will  not  scorn  the  pulpit,  for  it  needs  such  as 
you.  How  much  sympathy  do  you  find  East  ?  Is  H.  W.  B.  a  man 
after  your  heart  ?  Are  there  more  ?  But  I  must  close.  I  have  writ- 
ten you  in  confidence,  and  will  so  treat  any  thing  you  may  favor  me 
me  with.     And  do  grant  me  the  favor  of  a  reply,  if  possible. 

"  Yours,  in  the  love  of  Christ,  and  of  the  world  He  has  redeemed, 

W.  H.  S." 
3 


34  MEMOIR. 

The  above  letter  indicates  a  wish  that  the  creed  of  the 
Church  should  be  more  brief,  and  should  be  expressed  in 
the  very  words  of  Scripture.  Though  he  did  not  join 
in  the  cry  against  all  creeds,  he  did  regard  the  present 
creed  system  as  pernicious  in  many  ways.  His  Discourses 
on  Sectarianism  were  not  intended  as  a  warfare  against  a 
formal  Confession  of  Faith  ;  they  bear  simply  against  the 
present  system  of  Confessions,  by  which  the  attention  of 
Christians  is  diverted  from  the  Word  of  God,  and  the 
Lord's  Body  is  rent  asunder 

In  the  discipline  of  the  Church,  Mr.  S.  did  regard  the 
creed  as  of  no  practical  use.  It  was  no  test  of  piety,  and 
hence  no  just  rule  for  the  admission  of  members  to  com- 
munion. And  he  remarked  that  it  was  rarely,  if  ever,  the 
basis  of  accusation  against  disorderly  members  of  the 
Church  ;  unchristian  conduct,  and  not  doctrinal  error,  he 
found  to  be  the  actual  occasion  of  the  Church  discipline. 
Why,  then,  should  the  creed  be  ostensibly  a  rule  of  judg- 
ment, which  in  fact  it  is  not  ? 

His  idea  of  Christian  union  is  given  in  his  own  words. 
It  is  not  "  a  mechanical  and  forced  union  of  those  who  are 
determined  not  to  tolerate  the  free  exercise  of  conscience 
in  each  other.  By  no  means.  The  union  for  which  I 
look,  and  long,  is  to  be  brought  about  by  a  certain  change  of 
views  among  Christians ;  not  by  their  coming  to  a  com- 
mon doctrinal  basis,  as  these  words  are  generally  under- 
stood, but  by  their  coming  to  see  that  it  is  every  man's 
duty  to  be  governed  by  his  own  conscience  in  the  fear  of 
God,  and  therefore,  that  it  is  the  duty  of  his  brother  to 
allow  him  to  do  thus.  Sectarianism  seems  to  me  to  be  based 
on  the  notion  that  Christians  must  insist  on  other  men's 
adopting  their  judgments.      Do  you  ask,   *  Have  you   no 


^      •  MEMOIR.  35 

standard,  then  1  Yes — implicit  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  (as  the  very  idea  of  a  Christian  implies,)  proven 
not  by  their  agreeing  to  what  dogmas  you  attribute  to 
Christ,  but  '  by  their  fruits,' — penitence,  love,  prayer." 

These  views  were  extended  to  the  relations  of  the  min- 
isters of  the  Gospel  one  to  another.  He  was  no  Brownist. 
He  did  not  affect  an  Independency  for  Avhich  the  warmest 
feeling  of  his  heart,  and  his  entire  social  being,  unfitted 
him.  But  he  did  deprecate  those  rules  of  ecclesiastical 
judgment  by  which  intelligent  and  devoted  followers  of 
Christ  might  be  condemned  as  unworthy  to  preach  His 
Gospel. 

These  views  appear  in  his  earliest  public  relations  to  the 
ministry.  Called  in  the  year  1850  to  give  the  charge  to  a 
candidate  for  ordination,  he  says :  "  I  told  him  not  to  hold 
back  his  hand  of  greeting  and  brotherhood  from  any  who 
love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity ;  for  which  he 
afterward  thanked  me." 

He  tells  us  that  at  the  same  meeting  in  which  he  gave 
the  above  charge,  another  brother  presented  himself  for 
ordination.  "  But  he  w^as  laboring  under  some  wrong  im- 
pression,  and,  in  his  conversation  with  the  Association,  be- 
came embarrassed;  while  the  Association,  on  the  other 
hand,  showed  the  jealousy  of  its  prerogatives  and  its  dig- 
nity which  place  always  feels,  and  abused  him.  I  felt 
grieved ;  for  what  a  discouragement  to  young  men  who 
may  be  looking  forward  to  the  ministry  !  .  .  .  Did 
not  join  the  Association  ;  could  not  assent  to  the  basis  on 
which  it  is  founded,  viz. :  harmony  of  intellectual  views,  and 
avouchment  for  each  other's  soundness — a  basis  which 
makes  separation  from  many  that  love  Christ  necessary, 
and  so  makes  the  Association  a  cZwsociation ;  a  basis  which 


36  MEMOIR. 

fetters  my  mind  by  subjecting  me  to  be  tried  for  my  views 
by  an  original  body ;  and  a  basis  which  requires  me  to  do 
for  other  men  and  to  ask  from  them  what  I  will  neither  do 
nor  ask,  viz.,  vouch  for  the  soundness  in  the  faith  of  them 
or  me.  That  is,  I  will  not  do  this  under  the  form  of  a 
standing  organism.  Individual  vouchers  I  would  not  re- 
fuse to  give  or  ask  when  it  might  seem  necessary,  except, 
indeed,  that  I  do  not  wish  to  ask  (if  it  can  be  avoided)  any 
man  to  vouch  for  my  orthodoxy,  lest  I  should  be  less  free 
to  think  for  fear  of  injuring  him  by  coming  out  unorthodox." 

This  was  written  some  time  before  he  joined  the  local 
Association,  as  above  stated.  He  afterwards,  in  April, 
1852,  joined  the  General  Association  of  Illinois,  assenting 
to  the  Articles  of  Faith.  "  Yet,"  says  he,  "  my  belief 
on  the  points  touched  therein,  (or  many  of  them,)  is  quite 
different  from  that  of  many  or  most  of  the  Association.  I 
could  so  interpret  the  form  of  words  as  to  make  it  express 
my  views  ;  and  as  this  is  the  fashion,  I  consented,  with 
reluctance." 

He  subsequently,  upon  occasion,  ceased  to  be  a  member 
of  the  local  Association,  for  the  reason  that  it  was  more 
properly  a  Consociation,  and  became  united  with  the 
Association  of  Chicago,  in  which  he  hoped  to  find  the  prin- 
ciples of  Congregational  polity  more  strictly  maintained. 
With  the  brethren  of  this  Association,  he  held  the  prayer- 
ful counstls  which  his  soul  craved,  as  a  preacher  of  Christ, 
until  his  death.  And,  in  their  estimate  of  his  character, 
when  they  came  to  mourn  his  loss,  they  were  "saddened 
with  the  conviction,  that  a  good  man,  a  true  man,  and  a 
strong  man,  whom  the  churches  and  the  great  s'.ruggling 
"West  could  poorly  afford  to  spare,  had  fallen  in  the  midst 
of  his  days."  • 


MEMOIR.  37 

His  views  of  the  danger  of  ecclesiastical  powei  even  in 
the  hands  of  well-meaning  men,  are  most  forcibly  stated 
in  the  following  passage  of  liis  journal.  It  will  show,  also, 
that  he  was  no  stranger  to  prudential  views  and  consider- 
ations :  ^-^ 

^'-July  20th,  1851.  Have  to-day  been  reading  the  defence  of  Rev. 
Theodore  Clapp,  of  New  Orleans,  delivered  in  1832,  before  the  Pres- 
bytery of  ]\Iississippi.  It  evinces  extraordinary  and  wonderful  talent, 
dignity,  self-command,  and  fearlessness,  with,  also,  great  seeming 
mildness,  generosity,  and  forbearance ;  a  truly,  and,  in  general,  an 
eminently  Christian  spirit.  I  have  received  from  it  impressions  more 
vivid  than  I  ever  before  felt  of  the  power  of  slander,  and  of  wicked 
men  by  it  to  greatly  injure  a  good  man,  and  with  him  the  cause  of 
Christ.  And  in  seeing  how  he  was  slandered  and  abused,  and  the 
grounds  of  it,  I  see,  too,  my  danger.  Oh,  my  God  !  I  see  to  what  I 
am  exposed — what  I  may  be  called  to  suffer.  But  if  this  be  Thy  will, 
Lord,  let  Thy  will  be  done.  I  trust  I  shall  be  willing  to  bear  it.  And 
do  Thou  teach  me  how  to  bear  it,  and  to  do  no  ill. 

"  Mr.  Clapp's  defence  further  shows  me,  whether  true  or  false,  how 
extremely  dangerous  it  is.  for  a  man  of  any  independence  of  thought 
or  action,  in  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel,  to  commit  himself  to  the 
judicial  authority  of  an  ecclesiastical  body,  not  personally  cognizant 
of  his  daily  life  and  words  :  but  dependent,  first,  for  their  hasty  opin- 
ions, and,  secondly,  for  their  deliberate  judgment,  upon  the  reports  of 
other  men,  whose  lives  they  cannot  corjpare  with  his,  and  whose 
reasons  for  evil  speaking  they  cannot  know  certainly ;  and  bound, 
also,  by  their  every  position  to  stereotyped  creeds  and  philosophies. 
Mr.  Clapp's  defence  also  teaches  me  to  be  very  cautious  about  con- 
fiding to  any  man  my  thoughts  about  any  thing  or  any  body,  where 
there  is  a  possibility  of  my  words  being  misrepresented  or  made  a 
bad  use  of.  Yet  this  caution  should  not  be  observed  selfishly,  or  in  a 
cowardly  manner.  "Where  truth  needs  to  be  spoken,  let  me  speak 
boldly ;  but  let  me  beware  of  merely  social  outpourings  in  serious 
matters. 

"  As  to  the  merits  of  Mr.  Clapp's  case,  I  can  only  judge  imper- 
fectly, from  a  brief  glance  at  the  reports  of  the  proceedings  of  Pres- 
bytery, but  have  this  opinion  :  That  he  was  sincere,  but  in  the  wrong 


38  MEMOIR. 

place ;  that  the  Presbytery  meant  well,  but  misunderstood  him  in 
part,  and,  from  the  very  necessities  of  their  views,  could  not  deal  with 
him  on  what  I  think  Christian  principles." 

The  invitation  of  a  dlsfellowsliipped  minister  to  preach 
from  his  pulpit,  which  ceased  not  after  his  death  to  be  im- 
plied as  a  generous  indiscretion,  should  here  be  noticed, 
because  his  own  defence  may- be  permitted  to  die  with 
him. 

The  ret  was  censured  as  disorderly,  or  as  injudicious  ; 
hardly  as  in  itself  wrong.  But  it  was  not  disorderly,  un- 
less either  the  Association  had  control  of  the  pulpits  of  its 
churches,  or  the  advocacy  of  doctrine  condemned  as  heret- 
ical was  contemplated.  But  neither  of  these  things  was 
pretended.  The  person  invited  to  preach  had  no  desire, 
from  the  first,  to  urge  any  peculiar  views  ;  and  that  he  was 
not  unfitted  to  exhort  or  to  instruct  in  the  Gospel,  was  con- 
fessed in  his  being  invited,  directly  after  the  act  of  disfel- 
lowship,  by  a  leading  member  of  the  Association,  to 
conduct  the  prayer-meeting  of  Mr.  S's  church. 

But  it  is  said  this  invitation  then  was  injudicious.  If 
the  act  of  disfellowship  was  considered  wrong,  there  should 
have  been  delay  until  it  was  reversed.  The  reply  is,  the 
recovery  of  an  ecclesiastical  sanction  to  preach  might  be 
late  and  uncertain.  And  it  was  not  essential;  the  opinions 
of  various  ministers,  reported  to  the  Association  before  its 
action,  but  unheeded,  were  valid,  both  as  an  ex-par te  coun- 
sel, arid  as  indicating  the  true  import  of  the  act  with- 
drawing fellowship. 

For  the  real  point  at  issue  was  this :  Was  the  con- 
demned opinion  heresy,  or  was  it  mere  heterodoxy  ?  This 
distinction  was  made  by  the  dissenter,  in  his  confession  of 
a  changed  opinion.     For  his  new  opinion  he  was  ready  to 


MEMOIR.  39 

give  his  reasons,  and  had  urged  his  moral  right  to  a  full 
hearing.  He  did  not,  however,  wish  to  be  a  burden  to 
"Western  Congregationalism,  or  to  press  a  discussion  which 
might  only  end  in  a  divided  opinion.  In  view  of  all  the 
facts,  he  might  well  suppose  the  Association  designed  sim- 
ply to  terminate  its  special  responsibility,  as  he  was  willing 
it  should  do,  without  assuming  the  new  responsibility  of 
declaring  him  a  heretic,  and  as  nothing  less  than  a  heretic 
could,  if  at  all,  condemn  him. 

Up6n  a  subsequent  hearing  of  his  views,  with  his  rea- 
sons, by  a  vote  indecisive  because  informal,  they  were  pro- 
nounced not  heretical. 

About  a  year  before  his  death,  on  the  occasion  of  tran- 
sient difficulties  in  his  church,  he  expressed  himself  as 
follows : 

"  I  feel  much  exhausted  and  weighed  down.  Have  never  had  such 
desponding  thoughts  and  feelings.  It  seems  as  if  there  were  no  place 
of  labor  for  me  in  the  world,  and  no  peace  :  strife  and  trouble  follow 
upon  my  heels.  The  trouble  here,  combined  with  my  usual  grief  and 
trial  about  the  intolerance  of  Christians,  added  to  my  lethargic  diffi- 
culty, make  the  burden  more  than  I  seem  able  to  bear.  I  have  been 
almost  ready  to  renounce  the  ministry,  at  least  in  the  regular  way. 

"  Have  felt  sometimes  comfort  in  thinking  that  my  Saviour  was 
'  a  man  of  sorrows,  and  acquainted  with  grief,'  and  that  I  should  not, 
therefore,  expect  a  better  lot." 

His  Discourses  on  Sectarianism  were  delivered  not  long 
after  this  time  ;  and  they  will  show  how  unselfish  were  his 
griefs.  In  addition  to  rumors  of  heresy,  he  suffered,  per- 
haps, no  more  than  the  greater  number  of  pastors,  from 
the  tale-bearing  which  is  inseparable  from  the  spirit  of 
sect.  Yet  his  sensitive  nature  and  chafed  feelings  uttered 
no  unchristian  murmur.  He  alluded  to  his  troubles  rarely ; 
and  never  except  for  some  purpose  of  duty — to  correct  an 


4Q  MEMOIR. 

error  with  kindness  and  truth.  On  one  occasion  he  urged 
from  the  pulpit  the  "Duty  of  Not  Believing,"  with  refer- 
ence to  the  evils  we  have  named,  in  an  effective  discourse, 
without  harshness,  and  without  gainsaying.  And  in  pri- 
vate he  never  spoke  bitterly  of  those  who  troubled  him. 
"  Many  times,"  says  an  intimate  friend,  "  I  have  felt  really 
amazed,  when  I  have  been  conversing  with  him  in  the  retire- 
ment of  his  pleasant  study,  and  have  alluded  to  the  diffi- 
culties that  hedged  his  toilsome  journey  down  the  path 
of  life — and  never  could  induce  him  to  manifest  even 
some  faint  sign  of  proper  resentment  of  unmerited  con- 
tumely." 

We  should  not  have  told  the  story  of  his  griefs  so  fully, 
if  it  had  not  a  moral.  But  we  should  fail  to  set  forth  the 
lesson  to  be  learned  from  his  life,  if  we  did  not  make  the 
burden  of  his  life  apparent.  We  honor  the  prophets  un- 
truly, if  we  remember  not  their  lamentations ;  and  we 
do  not  hasten  "  the  good  time  coming,"  if  we  seem  to 
say  that  the  present  time  is  well  nigh  faultless,  or  that  men 
of  progress  find  these  to  be  days  of  ease.  And  we  have 
written  the  more  freely  of  his  sorrows,  because  he  was  so 
void  of  personal  feeling  to  be  gratified,  or  sinister  purpose 
to  be  promoted,  by  such  a  record ; — and  still  less,  because 
we  would  resent,  in  his  b:)half,  the  injuries  which  he  could 
only  forgive.  In  so  far  as  he  suffered  purely  for  the  sake 
of  Christ  and  the  Gospel,  a  mitigation  of  the  evils  which 
he  saw  and  felt  is  the  only  reparation  which  can  be  de- 
sired. But  evils,  like  virtues,  become  perfect  through  suf- 
ferings, whose  faithful  story  is  also  their  dirge. 

And  now,  having  been  assured  that  his  home  and  his 
study  were  the  abode  of  peace,  let  us  look  in  upon  him 
there,  and  inquire  what  were  his  familiar  thoughts  and  ways. 


MEMOIR.  41 

His  home  was  the  picture  of  neatness  and  quiet,  where 
friend  and  stranger  were  ever  welcome.  Time  did  not 
permit  his  hist  earthly  residence  to  become  what  he  de- 
signed ;  but  its  tidy  comforts  were  due,  in  large  measure, 
to  his  industrious  skill.  In  person,  he  was  slender,  and 
below  middle  stature  ;  his  aspect  was  youthful,  often  to  his 
disadvantage,  when  manhood  and  age  seemed  alone  want- 
ing to  enforce  his  counsels.  His  bearing  was  ever  digni- 
fied ;  his  look  slightly  forbidding,  as  that  of  one  in  earnest, 
or  of  abstracted  thoughts — yet  very  affable,  a  pleasant 
talker,  and  often  full  of  humor.  He  loved  a  hearty  laugh. 
We  recollect  the  delight  with  which  he  repeated  the  story 
of  one  of  Isaac  T.  Hopper's  boyish  freaks,  and  the 
roguish  sympathy  he  felt  with  old  Isaac,  telling  the  story 
himself.  He  could  talk  nonsense,  but  he  never  trifled.  He 
seemed  ever  conscious  of  a  Heaven  above  him  and  a  world 
around  him,  between  which  his  being  was  divided.  He 
entered  heartily  into  the  wants  and  feelings  of  all ;  none 
could  be  with  him  without  a  quickening  of  the  finer  feel- 
ings and  nobler  aspirations. 

With  his  dear  companion,  he  visited  freely  and  affec- 
tionately with  his  people.  But  his  loved  work  was  to  think 
of  Christ  and  His  truth,  in  the  retirement  of  his  study. 
As  life  advanced,  all  minor  pursuits  gave  way  to  the  study 
of  the  Scriptures,  which  he  daily  perused,  both  in  the 
translation  and  in  the  orio-inal,  with  great  care  and  delio^ht. 
A  most  intimate  friend  testifies  that  "  his  hfe  was  a  life  of 
earnest,  importunate  prayer  ;  and  that  from  this  source  he 
derived  the  suggestion  of  his  best  and  most  profitable  pub- 
lic discourses."  His  special  preparations  for  the  pulpit 
were  rapidly  made,  and  they  uniformly  possessed  unity  and 
energy,  showing  a  vigorous  mind  and  a  glowing  heart. 

3^ 


42  MEMOIR. 

One  of  the  friends  who  has  spoken  of  his  mental  quali- 
ties, thinks  his  mind  could  have  been,  and  was  directed 
with  much  success  to  metaphysical  truth.  His  Discourses 
on  Faith,  will,  we  trust,  confirm  this  opinion,  and  none 
the  less  because  they  were  designed  for  the  general  reader. 
But  his  most  nice  researches  in  this  department  of  truth 
were  left  incomplete.  On  the  subject  of  mental  philosophy 
he  had  made  voluminous  notes,  which  he  hoped  at  some 
day  to  digest  into  a  work  for  publication.  It  is  interest- 
ing to  observe  that  in  this  region  where  religion  so  oftea 
appears  lacking,  or  rathar  where  the  lack  of  religion  so 
often  appears,  the  piety  of  Mr.  S.  seems  most  natural.  '•  I 
wrote  this  morning,"  says  he,  under  date  of  November 
1850,  "my  note  on  the  source  of  the  sentiment  of  right 
and  wrong.  Felt  grateful  to  God  that,  as  it  seems  to  me, 
I  have  been  able  to  understand  and  unfold  this  most  im- 
portant subject,  which  has  been  involved  in  so  much  dark- 
ness and  caused  so  much  perplexity." 

The  notes  of  Mr.  S.  on  this  central  question  of  morals 
are  interesting,  not  because  they  are  new,  though  original 
with  him,  but  as  showing  the  teeming  activity  of  his  in- 
quiries on  all  connected  points.  His  view  on  the  point 
named,  is,  we  think,  substantially  as  Dr.  Hutcheson's  theo- 
ry of  the  moral  sense.  "  The  feeling  of  obligation  is  one  of 
the  natural  susceptibilities  of  the  mind,  just  as  love  or  anger 
is."  It  is  "  a  moral  instinct,  strictly  emotive  in  its  nature." 
"  The  sense  of  beauty  in  the  mind  is  a  natural  sentiment, 
consisting  both  of  a  natural  perception  and  a  corresponding 
or  answering  feeling.  Just  so  the  sense  of  right  and  wrong 
consists  of  both  the  moral  perception  and  the  answering 
emotion."  But  these  statements  did  not  begin  to  exhaust 
the  subject,  in  the  mind  of  our  young  philosopher.     What 


MEMOIR.  43 

is  to  be  said  of  an  external  standard  of  right  ?  What  is 
the  highest  good  ?  If  it  be  happiness,  how  is  the  duty  of 
the  creature  related  to  the  happiness  of  the  Creator  ?  What 
is  goodness,  as  distinct  from  simple  justice^!?  Is  the  dis- 
tinction between  these  the  same  in  man  as  in  God  ?  What 
is  the  nature  and  "bound  of  a  creature's  right  to  happiness? 
Where  does  benign  justice  end,  and  grace  begin'?  How 
does  authority,  or  the  power  to  enforce  a  law,  affect  its 
justice?  What  is  the  relation  of  hope  and  fear,  to  tlie  mor- 
al character  of  an  act  ?  It  is  strictly  true  that  "  con- 
science does  make  cowards  of  us  all ;"  or  is  that  cowardice 
the  better  part  of  heroism  ?  How  is  moral  action  related 
to  influence,  either  from  a  fellow-man,  or  from  God  ?  A 
human  soul,  subjected  to  a  certain  measure  of  evil  influ- 
ences, will  certainly  sin.  Is  it  equally  certain  that,  sub- 
jected to  a  given  measure  of  good  influences,  it  will  do 
right  ? 

By  these  and  a  thousand  other  like  questionings,  cher- 
ished in  no  idle  curiosity,  but  in  view  of  man's  nature  as 
basely  fallen  from  an  infinitely  glorious  destiny  and  redeem- 
ed again  therefor,  Mr.  S.,  we  think,  fairly  challenges  the 
title  of  Thinker.  The  form  of  these  notes  indicates  the 
habit  of  the  author's  mind— evidently  penned  under  the 
impulse  of  rapid  thought,  without  present  care  or  method. 
Sybilline  leaves  they  would  be,  if  the  thread  of  argument 
and  a  little  after-thought  had  not  connected  them.  The 
bent  of  his  mind  toward  such  inquiries  was  also  in  perfect 
keeping  with  a  disrelish  for  what  we  may  call  ecclesiasti- 
cism.  Much  as  he  suffered  from  that  power,  and  deeply 
as  he  deplored,  for  Christ's  sake,  the  evils  it  wrought,  it 
was  never  a  favorite  subject  of  his  studies.  Hence,  while 
on  rational  grounds,  and  in  the  interpretation  of  the  Scrip- 


44  MEMOIR. 

tures,  he  was  able  to  oppose  all  its  claims,  he  was  less  pre- 
pared to  answer  it  from  the  facts  of  history,  and  from  its 
own  documents.  He  knew  it  mainly  as  a  congeries  of  mod- 
ern customs ;  of  its  want  of  authoritative  decisions  and 
precedents  he  was,  like  many  others,  not  always  aware.  He 
sought,  not  authorities,  but  truth  ;  and  while  he  read  much, 
he  thought  more.  To  all  externalities,  or  questions  of  out- 
ward order,  that  can  only  breed  disorder,  he  preferred  no- 
bler themes  of  meditation  and  discourse.  Well  might  he 
have  answered  in  the  words  of  Leighton,  when  his  friends 
thought  him  indifferent  to  the  secular  interests  of  the 
Church,  that  "  while  so  many  were  zealously  preaching  up 
the  times,  it  might  be  permitted  to  one  poor  servant  of 
Christ  to  preach  up  Heaven  and  eternity." 

He  did  not  indeed  preach  up  "  the  times ;"  yet  he  was 
truly  a  man  for  the  time  in  which  he  lived.  In  all  his 
studies,  he  never  forgot  that  he  was  connected  by  a  thou- 
sand ties  to  the  race  of  mankind.  His  high  and  religious 
sense  of  humanity  made  him  a  Preacher ;  and  he  entered 
the  sacred  desk,  fervid  with  the  prayerful  meditations  of 
his  study,  a  preacher  of  righteousness. 

Holding  the  Gospel  as  the  only  hope  of  a  fallen  race  he 
shrunk  not  from  applying  its  principles  to  all  the  relations 
of  human  duty.  Most  of  all  did  he  "remember  those  in 
bonds,  as  bound  with  them,"  pleading  their  cause  as  those 
whom  Christ  had  redeemed,  and  protesting  earnestly,  upon 
every  new  occasion,  against  their  oppressions.  The  last 
discourse  to  which  he  set  his  hand,  and  which  he  never 
lived  to  finish,  was  in  view  of  the  passage  of  the  Nebraska 
Bill,  that  has  since  brought  the  country  to  the  verge  of  civil 
war.  And  whatever  human  interest  he  sought  to  advance, 
he  ever  spoke  in  the  name  of  Him  who  died  for  man.    His 


MEMOIR.  45 

theme,  and  his  manner,  found  their  dignity  in  the  faith  of 
Him  who  hath  in  all  things  the  just  preeminence. 

Professor  Post,  from  whom  the  reader  has  already  heard 
of  Mr.  S.  as  a  scholar,  speaks  of  him  also  as  a  preacher, 
and  an  inquirer  after  truth.     He  says  : 

"  Of  his  general  character  and  success  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel, 
others,  from  nearer  and  constant  observation,  can  speak  more  fully 
than  myself  I  can  only  say,  that  all  performances  by  him  in  the 
pulpit  and  on  public  occasions,  to  which  I  bad  opportunity  to  listen, 
were  of  high  gfade  and  promise,  both  intellectual  and  rhetorical; 
they  were  marked  with  true  originality  and  independence  of  thought, 
and  yet  with  great  candor  and  earnestness.  He  ever  impressed  me, 
both  in  private  intercourse  and  in  the  pulpit,  as  a  sincere,  honest,  in- 
dependent and  intrepid  thinker — blending  much  simplicity  and  godly 
sincerity  with  high  intellectual  power.  He  seemed  to  me  an  earnest 
seeker  after  truth,  single-minded,  resolute  and  conscientious  in  its 
pursuit,  and  in  the  utterance  of  what  he  supposed  it  to  be.  If  mis- 
taken, or  impracticable,  or  one-sided  in  his  views,  I  felt  his  Christian 
ingenuousness,  earnestness,  and  honesty ;  and  his  simple  and  humble 
piety  gave  assurance  he  would  ultimately  rectify  what  was  amiss, 
and  complete  what  was  defective.  I  felt  he  sincerely  sought  God's 
aid.  and  wished  to  know  and  utter  His  Truth,  and  that  he  was  one 
whom  God  would  help.  He  aimed  too,  I  believe,  to  do  God's  will,  as 
well  as  to  know  it.  Practically,  he  was  an  honest,  earnest,  God- 
loving  man.  He  knew  not  how  to  temporize  or  conceal.  The  dan- 
gers in  his  case  were  ever  in  a  tendency  to  the  opposite  and  nobler 
extreme. 

'■  I  felt,  when  startled  by  the  sorrowful  tidings  of  his  premature 
death,  that  one  had  gone  who  was  ripe  for  an  exchange  of  worlds, 
but  in  whose  early  decease  the  cause  of  Christian  truth  and  man- 
hood had  suffered  a  great  loss." 

A  number  of  the  friends  who  knew  him  well  in  Elgin, 
prominent  citizens  and  members  of  the  church  to  which 
he  ministered,  have  borne  similar  testimony  to  his  viitues. 
They  say : 


4:6  MEMOIR. 

"  He  came  among  us,  a  stranger,  but  his  purity  of  character,  and 
his  earnestness  in  the  advocacy  of  truth  in  all  its  relations  to  the 
highest  interests  of  mankind,  soon  won  for  him  the  esteem  and  re- 
spect of  numerous  friends,  who  will  never  cease  to  cherish  the  warm- 
est regard  for  his  memory.  Karely  have  we  met  with  one  possessing 
so  many  excellencies  of  character  qualifying  him  for  usefulness — so 
much  gentleness,  sincerity,  and  true  piety,  combined  with  uncommon 
intellectual  culture  and  talents  of  a  high  order. 

"  In  our  judgment,  it  would  be  doing  great  injustice  to  the  memory 
of  Mr.  Starr,  to  convey  the  impression  that  he  was  one  of  the  ordina- 
ry type  of  ministers  who  occupy  our  Western  pulpits.  He  seemed  to 
understand  and  appreciate  the  spirit  and  wants  of  the  age,  and  took 
a  broad  and  liberal  view  of  all  subjects  which  relate  to  the  welfare  of 
man.  He  was  unusually  free  from  all  bondage  to  creeds  and  opinions, 
and  in  his  public  as  well  as  private  teachings  endeavored  to  promote 
and  encourage  in  others  the  same  freedom  of  thought  which  he  him- 
self exercised.  He  believed  in  progress,  and  that  all  men  should  be 
free — and  hence  he  was  earnestly  opposed  to  the  exercise  of  mere  hu- 
man authority  in  matters  of  religion.  It  may  be  truly  said  of  him, 
'  He  spake  not  what  men,  but  what  he,  thought.'  This  scented  to  re- 
sult from  his  perfect  sincerity,  truthfulness,  and  honesty,  and  not  from 
any  desire  of  distinction.  He  was  one  of  those  who  are  willing  to  be 
wiser  to-day  than  yesterday.  And,  like  all  men  of  large  soul  and 
liberal  views,  he  was  tolerant  of  the  opinions  of  others,  condemning 
no  one  for  his  honest  convictions,  however  erroneous.  He  was  bold, 
free,  and  untrammelled  in  the  advocacy  of  whatever  he  believed  to  be 
right ;  and  though  naturally  disposed  to  be  at  peace  with  all  men, 
without  giving  offence  to  any  one,  he  could  not  withhold  what  seem- 
ed to  him  important  truth,  when  the  occasion  demanded  that  it  should 
be  spoken. 

"  Temperance,  Anti-Slavery,  and  all  other  movements  for  the  eleva- 
tion of  humanity,  found  in  Mr.  Starr  a  warm  friend  and  earnest  ad- 
vocate. Practical  Christianity  was  far  more  important  in  his  view 
than  forms  of  doctrine  ;  and  hence  he  was  always  ready  to  extend 
the  right  hand  of  Christian  fellowship  to  all  who  gave  evidence  of 
Christian  character  in  their  lives,  without  requiring  them  to  accept 
his  own  peculiar  views  of  theology.  Although  few  men  possessed 
more  acute  and  discriminating  minds,  or  were  more  familiar  with  all 
questions  of  technical  theology,  yet  regarding  the  simple  and  practi- 


MEMOIR  47 

cal  teachings  of  Christ  as  containing  all  that  is  essential  to  true  re- 
ligion, he  opposed  all  systems  and  forms  which  require  conformity  of 
belief  in  mere  theological  dogmas  and  non-essential  matters  of  faith. 
"  This  communication  can  give  but  a  faint  conception  of  his  real 
worth.  But  enough  has  been  stated  to  show  that  he  was  eminently 
fitted  for  usefulness,  and  that  the  Church  and  the  world  sustained  a 
serious  and  irreparable  loss  in  his  death ;  for  such  men  are  much 
needed  in  the  ministry  at  the  present  day,  and  seldom  found.  While 
we  mourn  for  his  loss,  it  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the  influence  of 
his  teachings  and  example  is  still  felt  for  good  in  the  community,  and 
wherever  he  was  known." 

The  depressed  feelings  of  Mr.  S.  in  view  of  the  evils  of 
sect,  and  of  the  suspicions  which  annojed  him,  were  renew- 
ed on  the  occasion  we  have  adverted  to,  shortly  before  his 
death.  His  views  of  Christian  liberty  were  misunderstood ; 
bis  defence  seemed  to  be  heard  reluctantly;  "a  heretic  has 
no  rights,"  said  he,  —and  he  thought  the  rule  of  the  civil- 
ians respecting  the  ninety  and  nine  guilty  and  the  innocent 
one,  was  reversed  in  ecclesiastical  jurisprudence.  In  a 
letter  to  a  friend,  under  date  of  February  21,  1854,  after 
speaking  of  his  inclination  to  quit  the  Church,  he  says : 

"  An  expression  in  your  letter  has  helped  me  to  right  myself,  how- 
ever. It  is  best  for  me,  I  suppose,  and  it  is  the  correct  principle,  that 
I  should  not  leave  the  Church  till  I  am  driven  out,  b  lieving  it  to  be 
indeed  of  Christ's  body ;  and,  within  certain  limits,  I  must  submit  to 
every  ordinance  of  man,  for  the  Lord's  sake.  Neither  am  I  bound, 
as  I  see,  to  divulge  my  philosophical  opinions  to  my  brethren  (if  I 
can  have  patience  to  hold  them  in) ,  because  they  have  deceived  them- 
selves about  them ;  but  as  long  as  I  can  stay  in  the  Church,  and  work 
for  freer  and  more  charitable  principles  in  it,  I  ought,  perhaps,  to  do 
so.  It -woxxld  he  a  great  deal  easier,  less  trying  to  the  spirit,  to  leave 
at  once  and  set  up  for  myself;  for  then  I  might  obtain  tolerance,  as 
of  a  distinct  sect,  and  be  kindly  regarded  and  treated,  instead  of 
being  watched  and  waylaid,  as  a  suspicious  character  in  the  sect. 

"  Many  a  good  man  has  had  to  endure  hardship,  and  to  wait  long 


48  MEMOIR. 

for  vindication  and  truth's  triumph — yea,  many  hare  closed  their  eyes 
upon  the  world  before  it  came.     .     .     . 

"  Dear  brother,  let  us  strive,  and  pray  for  greater  holiness.  For  our 
dear  Master's  sake,  let  us  endeavor  to  keep  -our  spirits  subdued  to 
the  sway  of  love.  .  .  .  '  Rejoice  in  the  Lord  alway,'  my  brother. 
It  is  not  what  we  cfo,  but  what  we  are,  that  most  concerns." 

These  were  the  beginning  of  his  last  words.  Death  was 
already  on  its  way,  taking,  in  its  course,  the  spirit  of  his 
mother-in-law,  Mrs.  Jane  S.  Collins,  who  had  died  on 
the  23d  of  January.  In  a  hurried  visit  to  the  paternal 
roof,  Mr.  S.  and  his  sorrowiu'^  companion  had  looked 
upon  the  face  of  the  dead,  returning  to  Elgin  on  the  10th 
of  February.  With  the  note  of  this  event,  and  of  a  mar- 
riage in  his  parish,  a  few  days  after,  his  journal  closes. 
The  next  parting  and  reiihion  were  to  be  his  own.  His 
work  was  done. 

On  Friday,  the  24th  of  February,  he  was  quite  unwell, 
and  would  frequently  leave  his  study,  and  try  to  dissipate 
his  feelings  by  conversation  or  some  light  employment. 
The  next  morning  a  physician  was  called.  On  Monday, 
he  thought  his  recovery  doubtful,  but  said  to  his  wife : 
"  Have  no  fears  for  me  ;  it  will  be  well  Avith  me."  The 
next  day  his  disease  proved  to  be  that  most  dreadful 
malady,  the  small-pox.  Wednesday  morning  he  desired 
to  look  out  at  the  window,  and  remarked,  "  How  pleasant 
to  see  the  light  of  a  beautiful  morning  once  more,"  But 
at  night  he  became  delirious,  and  continued  wandering 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  day  following.  On  Satur- 
day he  was  much  better,  and  dictated  to  his  wife  a  message 
to  his  people,  respecting  a  series  of  meetings  which  he  had 
expected  would  be  held.  That  night  his  tongue  began  to 
falter,  and,  with  the  closing   hour  of  Monday,  March  6  th, 


MEMOIR.  49 

shortly  after  his  last  word,  that  he  was  "  better,"  his  voice 
was  hushed  in  death. 

"And  when  I  learned,  a  few  daj^s  after,"  says  the 
friend  who  knew  his  trials  best,  "  that  God  had  removed 
him  by  a  sudden  and  unexpected  disease,  although  I 
mourned  his  loss  as  my  dear  Christian  friend,  I,  in  spite  of 
myself,  blessed  God  that  He  had  taken  him  away  from  the 
evil  to  come." 

A  dear  friend  offers  the  following  appropriate  tribute  to 
his  memory : 

Farewell,  true  heart !  Thou  hast  found  thy  rest.  A  Father's  man- 
sion is  opened  unto  thee.  A  Saviour's  arms  are  ready  to  enfold  thee. 
The  joyful  award,  "  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant,"  is 
already  thine.  He  whose  faithful  minister  thou  wast  on  earth,  has 
released  thee  early  from  thy  toil,  and  called  thy  spirit  from  its  earthly 
tabernacle  to  His  own  blessed  abode. 

Thou  wast  by  nature  too  sensitive  long  to  bear  the  shock  of  life's 
stern  battle ;  too  fearless  in  urging  thy  Master's  cause,  to  escape  the 
shafts  of  bitterness  aimed  at  those  who  fear  not  man,  but  God.  A 
faithful  w:ttchman  upon  the  towers  of  Israel,  thou  wast  a  shining 
mark  for  the  arrows  of  envy  and  detraction.  An  earnest  seeker  after 
truth,  thou  couldst  not  escape  the  assaults  of  bigotry.  Self-sacri- 
ficing and  artless,  thou  couldst  not  contend  against  the  craft  of 
worldly  Avisdom.  Frithful  and  uncompromising,  thou  couldst  not 
please  the  time-serving  and  the  fearful.  Yet  so  gentle  and  winning, 
that  all  who  loved  thy  Master,  or  sought  His  grace,  might  take  new 
courage  at  thy  cheering  words. 

Th:ni  hast  left  friends — tried  and  trusty,  while  thou  wert  with  them, 
and  whose  hearts  beat  more  quickly  now,  as  they  remember  thy  labor 
of  love  and  thy  earnest  ministry  in  spiritual  things.  Thou  hast 
friends  who  forget  not  the  words  of  life  thou  didst  speak — nor  the 
bread  of  life,  which,  in  humble  imitation  of  thy  Master,  thou  didst 
offer  to  all  who  loved  Him,  serving  and  obeying  Him.  Friends  and 
kinilred  hast  thou  left,  who  love  thee  truly,  who  think  of  thee  daily, 
whcse  hope  and  prayer  is  to  follow  thee  in  thy  example,  and  to  meet 
thee  again  in  thy  reward. 


50  MEMOIR. 

Many  souls  there  are  in  which  the  seed  thou  didst  freely  scatter  has 
taken  root,  and  sprung  up,  and  borne  fruit  abundantly, — choking 
the  foul  weeds  of  sin  and  error,  bringing  them  out  from  bondage  into 
the  liberty  of  Christ.  These  shall  be  gathered  for  thee  in  the  Har- 
vest, and  the  joy  of  thy  labor  shall  be  full. 

Sleep  on  then,  Brother !  and  take  thy  rest.  We  sorrow  not  for 
thee.  Thine  is  the  gain — the  loss  is  ours.  And  while  we  grieve  for 
ourselves,  we  forget  not  that  divine  wisdom  will  jet  solve  the 
mystery  of  thy  removal  from  us :  for,  our  Father  doeth  all  things 
well ! 

A  beautiful  monument  has  been  erected  bj  his  beloved 
congregation,  with  the  following  inscriptions  : 

REV.    WM.    H.    STARR, 

PASTOR  OF  THE  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH  IN  ELGIN. 

Born  at  Middletown^  Conn.^  April  27,  1817. 
Died  at  Elgin,  III.,  March,  1854. 


Translated  from  the  troublous  pilgrimage  of  life,  our  friend  and 
teacher  "  sleeps  well."  Some  few  of  those  who  revered  and  appre- 
ciated the  sainted  dead,  while  he  traveled  the  thorny  pathway  of  life 
uncomplainingly,  and  full  of  Christian  faith,  have  erected  this  mon- 
umental marble  and  consecrated  it  to  his  memory,  securely  relying 
on  that  blessed  promise  of  Holy  Writ  which  applies  to  him  who  has 
gone  before  to  the  unreturning  tomb. 

"  The  teachers  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firmament ; 
and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness,  as  the  stars,  for  ever  and 
ever." 


Call  it  not  vain;  they  do  not  err, 
Who  say  that  when  a  teacher  dies, 
Religion  mourns  her  worshiper, 
And  celebrates  his  obsequies. 

"We  entertained  an  angel  unawares." 


PASSAGES    FROM 

"THE    FUGITIVE." 

A  NARRATIVE   POEM. 


" Open  thy  mouth  for  the  dumb;  plead  the  cause  of  the  poor  and  needy." 


"  'TwAS  evening  of  a  golden  summer  day. 
Beyond  where  rolls  Missouri's  turbid  flood, 
A  scene  of  nature's  vast  magnificence, 
Wilt  re  heaped  her  bounties  and  her  beauties  lay, 
Glowed  in  the  sunset  flush ;  nor  earth  alone, — 
But  cloud-built  piles  hung  in  the  liquid  blue 
That  arched  above,  reflecting  fulgent  hues 
That  made  the  air  a  glory  and  a  joy, 
And  lured  the  eye  to  gaze,  and  heaved  the  heart 
With  gladness  and  thanksgiving.     Is  there  one 
Whom  Nature  moves  not  with  her  evening  smile? 
Can  any  look  upon  a  scene  so  fair. 
Nor  feel  the  mantling  glow  from  field  and  cloud 
Stealing  upon  his  soul,  until  it  flames 
With  pleasure  like  their  own  I    And  where's  a  heart 

Could  lie  in  shadows,  'mid  a  radiance  bright 

As  this  ?     Sweet  radiance !  that  seemed  lingering  long, 

As  it  unwilling  to  forsake  or  mar 

Such  beauty.     Who,  with  sorrow's  tones,  could  bring 

One  jar  upon  the  faultless  sweet  accord 

Of  that  high  hymn  of  Nature  to  her  God  ? 

Alas  !  there  was  a  man  that  moved  through  all, 

Untouched  by  one  sweet  sympathy  of  joy. 


52  PASSAGES  FROM  THE  FUGITIV. 

Forest  and  plain,  and  mountain- cloud  gold-dyed, 
He  heeded  not,  nor  thought  of  loveliness 
Or  praise ; — and  why  ?     His  heart  is  all  too  full 
Of  some  strange  sorrow,  shutting  in  his  sense." 

This  creature  had  a  human  form,  and  soul,  and  love  for 
wife  and  child ;  and  they 

"  Were  well — and  now  of  his  fast  coming  steps 
Expectant  smiled.     In  him,  then,  why  such  grief? 
I  said,  a  man.     Yes  !  God's  hand  made  him  so  : 
But  man !  man's  laws — oh,  Heaven  ! — made  him  a  thing ! 
Not  man,  nor  ox,  nor  dog  ;  nay,  not  a  plough, 
Or  hoe ; — but  a  poor,  lone,  unclassed  something, 
Without  a  name  but  for  that  one  word,  slaveP 

He  resolves  upon  escape  : 

"  I'll  go,  then,  though  the  way  is  crowded  thick 
With  every  danger  :  freedom  is  the  prize 
I  run  for ;  they,  for  blood  ;  and  shall  I  not 
Outstrip  them  in  the  race  ? 

Setting  out  with  wife  and  child,  he  crosses  the  Missouri, 
and  the  "  Father  of  Waters,"  with  the  help  of  rude  rafts, 
and  begins  to  feel  that  he  is  free.  But  not  yet.  Even  in 
a  land  consecrated  to  liberty, 

"  A  law  is  writ 
Which  says,  The  man  who  dares  be  black,  must  be 
A  slave,  unless  he  prove  that  he  is  free. 

Oh,  blasphemy  upon  the  form  of  man ! 
The  work  of  God  !     Prove  that  the  stars  are  pure  ! 
Prove  that  the  Heaven  is  high,  and  God  dwells  there. 
But  ask  not  for  the  proof  that  He  has  made 
All  human  souls  with  human  rights, — lest  thou 
Seem  not  a  man,  and  God  deny  thy  claim 
To  that  sweet  mercy  He  for  man  has  wrought." 
"  There  is  a  law,  another  law,  which  says — 


Passages  from  the  fugitive.  53 

Give  not  thy  hungering  brother  bread — shield  not 
The  homeless  stranger — tell  him  not  his  way — 
Nay,  rather,  if  the  starving  wretch  ask  help, 
Chain  him,  and  sell  him,  for  a  wandering  dog. 
Great  God  !  and  yet  the  grass  grows  green !  and  yet 
How  canst  Thou  see't,  and  hold  Thy  lightnings  back! 

After  a  fine  paraphrase  of  Matt,  xxv.,  34 — 43,  the  poem 
advances  to  a  conclusion : 

"  There  are,  who  for  the  right  scorn  the  world's  scorn, 
Despise  its  threatening  wrath,  and  will  not  be 
The  truckling  minions  of  tyrannic  wrong. 
And  they  will  help — and  thou,  brave  man,  shalt  go, 
"With  the  dear  sharers  of  thy  toils  and  hopes, 
Safe  to  unshackled  freedom." 

The  epilogue  appears  to  have  been  added  at  a  later  date. 
We  give  it  entire. 

"  Thus,  friends  and  fellow-freemen,  thus, 
The  hunted  slave  appeals  to  us. 
Thus  Christ's  own  warning  in  our  ears 
Is  sounded,  to  assure  our  fears 
Of  His  dread  vengeance  for  the  wrong 
That  through  the  earth  has  triumphed  long. 
Thus  his  blest  promise  pleads,  again, 
To  lift  the  yoke  and  break  the  chain. 
But  oh !  Thou  God  of  glory,  see 
Men  mock  and  spurn  Thy  high  decree  ; 
And,  with  the  trump  of  law,  proclaim 
Their  wrathful  scorn  upon  Thy  name. 
A  NATION,  leagued,  now  dares  defy. 
Great  God,  the  lightning  of  Thine  eye ; 
Uses  the  power  which  Thou  hast  given, 
To  rend  the  statutes  of  high  Heaven, 
Proclaim  Thy  law  repealed,  and  those 
"Who  dare  obey  it,  wrath-doomed  foes. 

Our  tears  no  more  we  now  must  shed 
O'er  pity  banished,  jnstice  dead  j 


54  PASSAGES  FROM  THE  FUGITIVE. 

No  more  must  feel  the  prisoner's  sigh ; 
No  more  must  hear  the  wanderer's  cry ; 
The  outcast,  hunted  and  betrayed, 
By  deed,  or  word,  or  look,  to  aid ; — 
Nay.  not  to  join  the  onset  made^ 
Is  treason  now  !  and  death  the  doom  ! 
Room  for  the  hangman,  freemen !  room ! 
The  law  commands,  and  we  must  fear, 
Senates  are  God's  vice-gerents  here  : 
Nay,  higher  than  God's  throne  appear. 

My  country,  is  it  thou^  hast  dared 
Defy  God's  arm  of  vengeance  bared? 
And  shall  thy  sons  the  horror  crown, 
And  the  rebellion  make  their  own  ? 
Say,  Christian  freemen  !  shall  we  yield 
Our  manhood's  arms  in  such  a  field  ? 
This  law's  commands,  say  !  shall  we  fear? 
Are  Senates  God's  vice-gerents  here? 
They  may  crush  the  weak,  and  help  the  strong, 
But  can  they  alter  right  and  wrong  ? 
Can  they  turn  God's  wrath  into  a  smile? 
Or  make  that  pure  which  He  made  vile  ? 
Can  human  Senates  break  His  rod? 
Can  Congress  change  the  law  of  God  ? 

Not  so  our  fathers  judged,  who  strove 
For  the  freedom  they  have  taught  us  love, 
'Gainst  king  and  senate,  arms  and  laws  ; 
Battling  'gainst  power,  in  manhood's  cause. 

No  human  laws  can  change  the  right ! 
Here  kings  have  no  power,  armies  no  might. 
Nay,  right  and  wrong,  men  once  did  own. 
Eternal  are,  as  God's  high  throne ! 
Not  God  Himself  can  loose  their  bonds  ! 
In  their  dread  might  His  kingdom  stands. 
He  sways  His  sceptre  by  their  laws  ; 
Thus  Heaven  He  savos,  and  hell  He  awes 
Provoke  not,  then,  their  awful  power, 
Nations,  or  men :  their  vengeful  hour 
Ye  cannot  'scape,  nor  fly  their  doom ; 


PASSAGES  FROM  THE  FUGITIVE.  55 

Their  strength  is  resistless,  their  hour  will  come. 
'Tis  God  who  wields  their  sovereign  might ; 
Ye  cannot  shun  His  piercing  sight. 
Repeal  the  wicked  law  !  the  guilt, 
The  deepening,  blackening,  gathering  guilt, 
Of  blood,  in  Moloch's  conquests  spilt, 
Of  justice  turned  aside  for  gold; 
Of  freemen  into  bondage  sold; 
Of  prisoners  bound,  and  hurried  back, 
To  die  on  Slavery's  lingering  rack ; 
Of  sundered  ones,  'whom  God  had  joined," 
Without  one  farewell  word,  consigned 
To  life-long  severance  in  the  home 
Of  darkness,  xvhence  no  tidings  come ; 
Of  weeping  girlhood  dragged  to  shame ; 
Of  cruel  wrongs  without  a  name ; 
Of  hopeless  sorrow,  groans  and  tears, 
Through  the  long  agony  of  years  ; — 
This  guilt,  this  dreadful  guilt,  is  yours, 
My  countrymen,  while  still  endures 
That  wicked  law  by  which  'tis  wrought ! 
'Tis  yours,  unless,  remitting  not. 
You  lift  your  voice,  and  stretch  your  hand, 
To  drive  it  from  this  groaning  land. 
The  wicked  law  you  fail  to  oppose 
Stands  with  your  virtual  assent.    "Woes 
You  might,  but  will  not,  aid  to  heal, 
'Gainst  you  to  Heaven  make  just  appeal. 
Go !  blot  that  law  from  off  the  page 
Stained  with  its  record  !     Let  the  age 
No  more  such  shames  and  miseries  know; 
Forget  all  meaner  strifes,  and  show 
Your  first  love  is  fur  freedom  !     Let 
Thy  freeman's  soul  be  firmly  set. 
That  the  glad  day  shall  hasten,  when 
Freedom  has  conquered ! 

And,  till  then, 
Go  aid  the  feeble  captive's  flight ; 
Give  food  and  shelter ;  for  the  right 


56  Passages  from  the  fugitive. 

Dare  all  things — so,  God's  hand  shall  bless 
Thee^  in  thine  hour  of  deep  distress. 

Go !  speed  the  fugitive  along, 
Till  Ae,  too,  shall  begin  the  song, 
Glad  freedom's  song,  on  the  strange  shore 
Where  slavery's  minions  chase  no  more. 

Oh,  when  shall  the  children  of  Africa  be 

All  thus  rejoicing  in  songs  of  the  free  ? 

When,  when  shall  the  voice  of  a  loud  jubilee 

Roll  over  the  land  and  over  the  sea, 

Proclaiming  the  tyrant's  chains  everywhere  broken, 

And  the  glad  word  of  brotherhood  everywhere  spoken? 

When  the  tears  of  the  slave  shall  no  more  wet  the  sod. 

Nor  the  billows  of  ocean  be  stained  with  his  blood  ? 

When  the  earth  shall  bear  up  on  its  bosom  no  longer, 

The  wretch  who  shall  claim,  by  the  right  of  the  stronger, 

His  perishing  brother  to  trample  in  dust  1 

Oh,  God,  Thou  art  holy  !  oh,  God,  Thou  art  just ! 

Look  down  on  a  nation  revolted  from  Thee, 

And  that  which  Thou  biddest  forbidding  to  be, 

The  '  throne  of  iniquity '  building  '  by  law,' 

And  binding  the  poor  for  grim  lust's  bloody  maw. 

In  mercy  and  truth,  let  thine  arm  be  made  bare; 

The  prisoner  lead  out  from  the  house  of  despair ; 

'  Break  the  arm  of  the  wicked ;'  '  the  rulers '  high  born, 

Who  •  counsel  together,'  oh,  '  laugh  them  to  scorn.' 

Great  God,  Thou  art  holy  !  great  God,  Thou  art  just! 

The  friend  of  the  captive — in  Thy  name  we  trust : 

The  glad  day  of  Freedom — it  will  come,  it  must 


DISCOURSES 


DISCOURSES. 


DISCOURSE     I. 


Faith — Its  Nature — Importance  of  the  Subject. 

John  vi.  29  :  ^^  Jesus  answered  and  saidunto  them,  This  isthe 
work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  Him  whom  He  hath  sent.** 

This  is  the  answer  to  a  grave  question.  "  What  shall 
we  do  ?"  cried  the  half-convinced,  yet  still-doubting  Jews, 
to  Jesus,  the  Holy  One  of  Bethlehem  ;  "  what  shall  we  do 
that  we  misht  work  the  works  of  God  ?"  and  "  what  shall 
we  do?''  echoes  a  groahing  world  in  every  age.  What  shall 
we  do  to  accomplish  the  great  end  of  our  being,  to  secure 
its  highest  perfection,  to  obtain  the  favor  of  Him  who 
made  us,  to  "  work  the  works  of  God  V  Tell  us,  thou 
Nazarene,  thou  meek  and  mighty  One,  tell  us, — ^What 
shall  we  do  ? 

Believe  !  is  the  reply,  from  the  lips  of  gi*ace  and  truth ;  he- 
lieve  on  Him  whom  God  hath  sent,"  It  is  the  answer  for 
all  ages  and  all  climes — the  central  truth  of  Christian  doc- 
trine, echoed  by  Holy  Apostles  and  Martyrs,  witnesses  for 
the  truth,  who  sealed  it  with  their  blood,  and  sung  its  praises 
with  dying  lips — "  this  is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye  believe 
on  Him  whom  He  hath  sent." 

*^ He  tJiat  believcth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life;''*  he 
that  believeth  not  on  the  Son  shall  not  see  life,  but  the  wrath 


60  DISCOURSES. 

of  God  abideth  on  him."  "  If  ye  believe  not  that  I  am  he, 
ye  will  die  in  your  sins." 

What,  then,  is  it  to  Believe? — If  faith  in  Jesus 
Chrifit  is  a  matter  of  such  consequence,  ivJiat  is  Faith  ? 

The  answer- to  this  question  should  not  be  difficult,  for 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  certainly  intended  to  give  a  pZam  di- 
rection to  those  who  inquired  of  Him  the  way  of  life.  And 
in  other  matters  men  know  well  enough  what  it  is  to  be- 
lieve. But  upon  the  subject  of  faith  in  Christ,  and  reli- 
gious faith  generally,  so  much  obscurity  has  been  cast, 
that,  while  nothing  is  so  much  written  and  spoken  about, 
nothing  is  so  little  understood,  and  scarcely  anything  so 
misrepresented.  Who  that  has  read  the  hundredth  or  the 
thousandth  part  of  what  has  been  printed  upon  this  sub- 
ject, in  sermons,  in  newspapers,  in  pamphlets  and  books, 
but  has  deeply  and  painfully  felt  how  much  obscurity  rests 
upon  it,  and  how  many  absurd  things  are  said  about  it ; 
and  who  that  has  read  with  a  spirit  anxious  for  its  own 
profit,  or  its  salvation  even,  or  that  it  might  know  how  to 
direct  the  inquiring  soul,  anxious  to  learn  just  what  faith 
is  and  how  the  soul  cmi  believe,  but  has  felt  how  utterly 
unsatisfying  are  the  definitions  and  directions  commonly 
given  ;  nay,  how,  as  he  read,  obscurity  oft-times  grew  more 
obscure,  and  "  confusion  worse  confounded?" 

The  obscurity  with  which  this  subject  has  been  invested, 
or  the  confusion  in  which  it  has  been  involved,  has  been 
productive  of  evil  to  the  cause  of  Christ  in  many  ways. 

It  has  "  given  occasion  to  the  enemy  to  blaspheme." 
Faith  has  often  been  spoken  of  as  though  it  were  some- 
thing altogether  separate  and  apart  from  reason ;  and  as 
if,  in  believing,  a  man  left  behind  him  the  dictates  of  his 
understanding  and  went  upon  some  other  basis.       How 


DISCOURSES.  61 

much  occasion  has  thus  been  given  to  unbelievers  to  sneer 
at  and  reproach  the  rehgion  of  Jesus,  and  how  often  they 
have  acted  upon  it,  few,  probably,  are  aware  of. 

"  Our  religion,"  says  the  infidel  Hume,  in  his  "  Essay  on 
Miracles,"  "  our  religion  is  founded  on  Faith,  not  on  reason  ; 
and  'tis  a  sure  method  of  exposing  it  to  put  it  to  a  test 
which  it  is  by  no  means  fitted  to  endure."  "  Mere  reason 
is  insufficient  to  convince  us  of  its  veracity ;  and  whoever 
is  moved  by  faith  to  assent  to  it,  is  conscious  of  a  continual 
miracle  in  his  own  person,  which  subverts  all  the  princi- 
ples of  his  understanding." 

How  much  mischief  this  blasphemous  sneer  has  accom- 
plished by  planting  the  seeds  of  infidelity  in  cultivated  and 
superior  minds,  we  cannot  estimate  ;  but  we  can  easily  see 
what  occasion  has  been  given  for  such  sneerg  by  the  terms 
in  which  faith  has  been  spoken  of  frequently  by  professed 
believers. 

The  distinguished  Brewster,  in  his  "Life  of  Sir  Isaac  New- 
ton," speaking  of  the  great  man's  religious  belief,  says  : 
"  The  inquiring  spirit  will  explore  the  history  of  a  mind  so 
richly  endowed,  and  will  seek  the  shelter  of  its  authority 
on  those  great  questions  which  reason  has  abandoned  to 
faith  and  hope." 

If  this  is  sensible  language, — if  reason  has  abandoned  the 
great  questions  of  religious  belief,  surrendering  them  to  some- 
thing that  is  called  faith  and  hope,  methinks  "  the  inquir- 
ing spirit"  might  naturally  ask  one  question  more  :  of  what 
greater  "  aathoritif  is  the  mind  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton  on  such 
matters  thdn  the  mind  of  an  idiot  ?  And  if  religious  questions, 
the  very  highest  and  most  momentous  that  occupy  the  mind 
of  man,  may  be  settled  by  abandoning  reason  and  resort- 
ing to  faith,  why  may  not  all  other  questions  be  settled  in 


62  DISCOURSES. 

the  same  manner,  and  man  define  himself  to  be  a  credulous 
animal,  whose  business  it  is  to  believe  every  thing  and 
prove  nothing !  whose  highest  excellence  consists  in  having 
the  longest  creed,  embracing  the  most  innumerable  beliefs, 
of  things  possible  and  things  impossible,  things  imaginable, 
and,  if  there  be  such  things,  things  unimaginable?  How 
can  we  wonder,  when  such  language  is  used  by  believers, 
that  they  are  reproached  by  infidels  tvith  credulity  ? 

But  it  is  not  Sir  David  Brewster  alone  who  speaks  after 
this  manner.  We  hear  similar  language  on  every  side  of 
us.  Upham  says,  in  his  "  Life  of  Faith,"  "  if  faith  did  not 
carry  us  beyond  the  reach  of  our  own  understanding,  be- 
yond the  line  of  human  reason it  would  not  be  faith  ;" 

and  in  this  way  speak  many  others.* 

It  is  not  to  be  denied,  indeed,  that  each  language  is  some- 
times designed  to  express  a  real  truth  ;  but  such  a  form  of 
expression  is  unphilosophical,  growing  out  of  an  indefinite 
apprehension  of  the  nature  of  faith,  and  leading  often  to  great 
error.  Never,  until  men  understand  better  what  faith  is, 
and  so  perceive  its  relations  to  reason,  will  they  cease  to 
deceive  themselves  by  such  expressions,  or  be  able  to  avoid 
and  refute  the  sneers  of  infidels. 


*  Bacon. — "  The  use  of  reason  in  spiritual  things,  and  the  latitude  thereof,  is 
very  great  and  general :  for  it  is  not  for  nothing  that  the  Apostle  calleth  religion 
our  reasonable  service  of  God;  insomuch  as  the  very  ceremonies  and  figures  of 
the  old  law  were  full  of  reason  and  signification,  much  more  than  the  ceremonies 
of  idolatry  and  magic,  that  are  full  of  non-significants  and  surd  characters.  But 
most  especially  the  Christian  Faith,  as  in  all  things,  so  in  this  deserveth  to  be 
highly  magnified  ;  holding  and  preserving  the  golden  mediocrity  in  this  point 
between  the  law  of  the  heathen  and  the  law  of  Mahomet,  which  have  embraced 
the  two  extremes.  For  the  religion  of  the  heathen  had  no  constant  belief  or 
confession,  but  left  all  to  the  liberty  of  argument ;  and  the  religion  of  Mahomet, 
on  the  other  side,  interdicteth  argument  altogether ;  the  one  having  the  ver}^  face 
of  error,  and  the  other  of  imposture:  whereas  the  Faith  doth  both  admit  and 
reject  disputation,  with  difference," — Advancement  of  Learning. 


DISCOURSES.  63 

There  is  a  class  of  men  at  the  present  day  who  make 
great  claims  to  learning  and  philosophy,  that  are  especially 
at   fault  in  this  matter.      The  transcendental  religionists 
talk  loudly  in  praise  of  faith  ;  they  divorce  it  entirely  from 
the  understanding,  however,  and  seem  to  give  up  the  ground 
of  maintenance  of  religious  truth  by  appropriate  and  sub- 
stantial evidence,  laying  the  basis  of  faith  in  an  asserted  and 
peculiar  constitution  of  soul  itself     Faith  with  them  seems 
to  be  a  distinct  sphere  of  mental  action  from  the  exercise  of 
reason  and   choice,  a  separate  capacity   of  soul  from   all 
others.     Its  exercise  proceeds  from  itself  alone,  indepen- 
dent of  all  other  faculties.*     But  if  this  doctrine  is  true, 
all  reasoning  about  the  great  fundamental  truths  of  rehgion 
must  be  at  once  abandoned.     Man's  understanding  must 
no  longer  be  exercised  upon  those  themes  once  esteemed 
the  highest  objects  of  mental  activity  ;  and  if  any  man  doubt 
the  reality  and  truthfulness  of  those  objects  from  not  perceiv- 
ing any   such  out-goings  of    faith  in  his  own  mind,    he 
must  be  left  to  himself  with  the  information  that  these  are 
not  appropriate  subjects  for  investigation  and  argument ; 
that  "  our  holy  religion  is  founded  on  Faith,  not  on  rea- 
son ;"  and  that  '•  it  is  a  sure  method  of  exposing  it,  to  put 
it  to  a  test  which  it  is  by  no  means  fitted  to  endure." 

We  must  say,  that  the  man  Avho  believes  such  a  creed 
as  this,  gives  some  evidence  of  a  faith  possessing  a  peculiar 
claim  to  be  considered  as  distinct  from  the  exercise  of 
reason. 

From  the  errors  and  absurdities  which  have  now  been 

*  To  this  divorce  of  Faith  and  Reason  applies  the  remark  of  Locke,  that  those 
who  are  for  laying  aside  the  use  of  Reason  in  matters  pertaining  to  Revelation, 
resemble  one  who  should  put  out  his  eyes  in  order  to  make  use  of  a  telescope. 
And  that  of  Leibnitz :  "  H  est  vrai  que  de  uotre  temps  une  personne  de  la  plus 
grande  elevation  disait,  qu'  en  article  de  foi,  11  fallait  se  crever  les  geux  pour 
TOir  clair.'' — Nouveaux  Essais. —  [Ed. 


64  DISCOURSES. 

noticed,  if  they  are  errors  and  absurdities,  a  correct  and 
definite  apprehension  of  the  nature  of  faith  would  free  the 
minds  of  men  ;  and  this  alone  can  do  it.  But  these  are 
not  the  only  evils  from  which  men  would  be  delivered  by  a 
better  understanding;;  of  the  nature  of  faith. 

The  confusion  and  obscurity  which  prevail  in  relation  to 
this  subject,  work  evil  also  to  the  sincere  inquirer  and  the 
true  believer.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed,  indeed,  that  men 
do  not  -know  practically  what  it  is  to  believe  ;  but  many 
have  heard  so  much  said  about  Christian  faith,  and  in  such 
sort,  that  it  seems  well  nigh  impossible  for  them  to  apply 
their  own  practical  knowledge  to  the  subject,  and  to  real- 
ize that  it  is  only  that  simple  thing  which  it  is. 

Penitent  seekers  of  salvation  by  Christ  hare  often  been 
told  that  they  must  believe,  and  yet  that  they  could  not 
believe ; — that  speculative  faith  would  not  answer,  but  they 
must  exercise  a  true  and  heartij  faith  ;  that  what  such  a 
faith  is,  however,  no  one  could  describe  to  them,  nor  could 
they  know  or  understand  it  till  they  had  acquired  it,  with- 
out knowing  how, — like  shutting  a  man  up  in  a  horrible 
dungeon,  and  telling  him  there  was  a  way  of  escape,  but  he 
could  never  find  it  till  he  saw  it,  and  could  never  see  it  till  he 
had  first  found  it.  And  in  this  Avay  many  a  man  has  been 
kept  for  a  long  time  in  an  agony  of  suspense  and  fear,  who 
all  that  time  was  virtually  a  believer  and  justified  before 
God,  having  practically  all  of  faith  except  its  peace. 

And  if  many  such  a  soul  has  not  thus  been  driven  back 
into  rebellion  and  open  iniidelity,  it  is  because  the  abound- 
ing grace  of  God  alone  has  prevented. 

Many  inquirers,  again,  have  been  told  what  faith  is  in 
such  terms,  as  rendered  what  was  before  dim,  now  wholly 
obscure.     The  difficulty  is  not  explained — the  precise  thing 


DISCOURSES.  es 

is  not  pointed  out  which  they  must  do;  and  it  cannot  be, 
until  the  nature  of  faith  is  analysed  and  its  elements  dis- 
tinctly marked.  One  of  them  comes,  perhaps,  saying : 
"The  doctrine  that  Christ  died  for  me,  my  understanding 
assents  to  as  true,  but  my  heart  finds  no  comfort  in  it : 
you  say  this  intellectual  assent  alone  is  not  true  faith  ; 
what  more  then  shall  I  do  to  believe  ?"  "  You  must  go 
to  Christ,"  is  perhaps  the  reply.  "Well,  show  me  where 
He  is,"  and  I  will  gladly  go  to  Him.  "  But  this  is  a  figure 
of  speech — you  must  not  take  my  words  literally."  "  Very 
well,  then  ;  explam  your  figure  of  speech — show  me  hoiv 
I  must  go  to  Him."  And  here  likely  enough  the  reply  is, 
you  must  go  to  Him  believingli/."  That  is,  "  to  have  faith 
in  Christ,"  is  "  to  go  to  Him  believingly," — a  very  intelli- 
gible definition. 

The  want  of  a  clear  understanding  of  what  faith  is,  how- 
ever, and  what  are  its  relations  to  the  Christian  system,  is 
not  alone  a  source  of  difficulty  in  the  case  of  inquirers ;  it 
is  a  fruitful  source  of  mischief  to  thousands  of  professed  be- 
lievers, and  of  injury  and  dishonor  to  the  religion  they  pro- 
fess. Something  which  is  called  "  faith"  has  been  too  gen- 
erally substituted  in  the  Church  for  true  piety  and  genuine 
righteousness.  Men  have  thought,  that  to  be  worldly-mind- 
ed, proud,  angry,  and  vindictive  in  temper,  selfish  and  un- 
just, though  not  so  well,  is  still  not  positively  inconsistent 
with  the  religion  of  Jesus,  provided  they  have  "  faith." 
They  have  imagined  they  might  be  neglecters  of  God  and 
not  lovers  of  men,  did  they  only  "  believe."  They  have 
thought  that  "  faith"  would  suffice  instead  of  meekness,  pa- 
tience, purity,  and  genuine  benevolence  of  heart,  and  thus 
they  might  sail  smoothly  into  the  eternal  haven  with  a 
righteousness  not  their  own  ;  a  figment  of  an  unholy  heart 
and  a  disordered  brain. 

4* 


66  DISCOURSES. 

There  are,  it  is  to  be  feared,  many  such  "  believers"  at 
the  present  day  in  a  certain  quarter  of  the  Church,  Avhere 
the  highest  "  orthodoxy"  is  set  up,  and  where  the  all-suffi- 
ciency and  the  alone-sufficiency  of  faith  are  most  loudly 
proclaimed,  and  where  men  turn  their  fellow-men  to  chat- 
tels, sell  the  image  of  Christ  for  God,  make  gain  of  the 
sanctifying  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost, — "  I  believe  in  Him 
of  Calvary." 

And  so  in  all  quarters  of  the  Church  are  men  found,  w^ho 
think  they  may  be  on  the  side  of  the  oppressor ;  they  may 
be  governed  by  the  maxims  of  this  world  instead  of  the 
teachings  of  Christ ;  they  may  be  proud,  selfish,  sensual,  and 
yet  their  "  faith"  shall  save  them. 

"  Can  faith  save  them?"  "If  it  hath  networks,  it  is 
dead  :"  "  the  devils  also  believe,  and  tremble :"  •'  by  works  a 
man  if  justified,  and  not  by  faith  only."  So  teaches  the 
Apostle  James ;  and  what  vaunter  of  his  faith  will  dare 
dispute  him? 

Such  a  state  of  things  in  the  Church  as  has  been  spoken 
of,  has  naturally  arisen,  by  human  depravity,  from  the  im- 
perfect, partial  view  of  faith  which  Luther  had,  in  con- 
nection with  the  importance  he  assigned  to  it  in  his 
theological  system.  Luther  had  undoubtedly  grasped  a 
great  truth,  and  he  wrote  a  mighty  work  with  it.  But 
both  he,  and  theologians  generally,  since  his  day,  have  seen 
this  truth  indistinctly  and  partially,  and  hence  error  has 
been  mixed  up  with  their  teachings,  and  mischief  has 
grown  out  of  error.* 

*  This  censure  is  warranted  by  tlie  following  expressions  of  Luther :  "  Ita 
vides,  quam  dives  sit  homo  Christiauus ;  etiam  volens  non  potest  perdere  salu- 
tem  suam  quantiscunque  peccatis,  nisi  nolit  credere.  Kulla  enim  peccata  po.-> 
sunt  damnare,  nisi  sola  incredulitas." — De  Captiv.  Bab.,  torn,  ii.,  fol.26't.  "  Esto 
peccator  et  pecca  fortiter,  sed  fortius  fide  et  gaude  in  Christo,  qui  victor  est  pec- 
catl,  mortis,  et  mundi :  peccandum  est,  quamdiu  hie  sumus.    Vita  baeo  non  est 


DISCOURSES.  67 

It  is  not  true  that  the  Roman  Church,  before  Luther, 
did  not  hold  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith.  In  the 
early  ages  of  that  Church,  justification,  by  faith  in  Christ, 
was  distinctly  maintained.  Gradually,  however,  works  of 
penance  were  added  to  the  requirements  of  their  doctrine 
of  salvation,  and  Christ  was  more  and  more  left  out  of 
view.  Then  the  doctrine  of  purgatory  was  adopted,  and 
applied  to  the  purification  of  "  believers  "  who  died  with 

habitatio  justitiae  ;  sed  exspectamus,  ait  Petrus,  coelos  novos,  et  terrain  novam 
in  quibus  justitia  habitat."— -Epis«.  arf  Melancthon,  1521;  Jena,  1556.  "Si  in 
fide  fieri  posset  adulterium,  peccatum  non  esset." — Disput.  torn,  i.,  p.  523. 
Cited  by  J.  A.  Moehler,  Symbolisjn,  ch.  in.,  §  xvi.  "  Believe  firmly  that  thou 
art  absolved,  and  thou  art  so,  whatever  be  thy  contrition." — Senn.  cle  Indulg. 
Cited  by  Bossuet,  Variations  of  Prot.,  Bk.  i.,  §  ix. 

The  obvious  antlnomianism  of  these  expressions  is  corrected  in  the  Augsburg 
Confession,  in  an  article  cited  by  Bossuet;  yet  it  has  not  failed  to  give  just 
offence  to  the  Romanists. 

The  half-truth  contained  in  the  last  passage,  which  Luther  has  put  in  the  form 
of  a  dangerous  error,  is  i-estored  to  its  true  connexion  in  the  following  beauti- 
ful passage  of  Neander,  which  is  pertinent  to  the  difficulty  just  stated  (p.  16) : 

"  The  law  always  presents  itself  as  imperative,  and  makes  the  salvation  of  men 
dependent  on  the  perfect  fulfilment  of  all  its  commands.  '  Do  all  this,  and  thou 
shalt  live.'  But  since  no  one  can  fulfil  these  conditions,  the  law  can  only  pro- 
duce despair.  But  the  Gospel  addresses  the  man  who  despairs  of  himself,  'Do 
not  give  thyself  up  to  the  feeling  of  despair.  Ask  not  howthou  canst  make  the 
impossible  possible.  Thou  needest  only  receive  the  salvation  prepared  for  thee  ; 
only  believe,  and  thou  hast  with  thy  faith  all  that  is  needed  for  thy  inward  life.' 
Paul  admirably  illustrates  this,  by  applying  to  it  the  passage  in  Deut.  xxx.,  12  : 
i  Say  not  to  thyself,  Who  shall  ascend  to  Heaven,  and  prepare  a  path  for  me 
thither  ?  For  Christ  has  descended  from  Heaven  and  has  prepared  such  a  path. 
To  ask  such  a  que.stion,  is  to  desire  that  ChrLst  would  descend  again  from  Heaven 
for  thy  sake.  But  say  not.  Who  shall  descend  for  me  to  the  regions  of  the  dead, 
and  deliver  me  thence  ?  Christ  has  risen  from  the  dead,  and  has  delivered  thee 
from  the  power  of  death.  To  ask  this,  is  to  desire  that  Christ  might  now  rise 
from  the  dead  for  thy  sake,  as  if  He  were  not  already  risen.  Instead  of  asking 
suth  questions,  only  let  the  Gospel  be  cherished  with  vital  power  in  thy  heart ; 
believe  In  Him  who  descended  from  Heaven  and  rose  from  death,  and  thus  ob- 
tained salvation  for  thee.  Whoever  has  this  faith  is  truly  pious,  and  may  be 
assured  of  salvation.'  " — Planting  and  Training,  Bk.  vi.,  ch.  i. 

For  other  instances  of  the  sundering  of  Faith  from  Morals,  see  Appendix, 
Note  6.— [Ed. 


68  DISCOURSES. 

unexpiated  sins,  while  all  unbelievers  were  assigned  to  eter- 
nal perdition. 

Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  in  the  days  of  Luther  the  chil- 
dren of  '*  the  Church  "  were  held  to  be  saved  from  everlast- 
ing woe  through  their  '-'' faith^''  though  needing  works  of 
penance  to  save  them  from  purgatorial  fires,  while  mibe- 
lievers  were  held  doomed  to  inevitable  perdition. 

The  Romanist's  justifying  faith,  however,  at  the  time, 
was  not  generally  the  right  kind  of  faith.  It  was  faith  in 
the  Church,  faith  in  her  so-called  '  saints"  and  her  "  holy 
Virgin,"  instead  of  faith  in  Christ.  Luther  preached  faith 
in  Christ  only,  for  justification  ;  and  faith  in  Christ  alone,  for 
complete  justification.     Tiiis  was  the  difference. 

But  Luther's  position  compelled  him  to  lay  much  stress 
upon  justifying  faith ;  and  in  so  doing  he  obscured  his 
view  of  faith,  as  a  general  principle,  magnifying  the  rela- 
tive importance  of  one  of  its  activities,  and  overlooking  or 
failing  to  see  the  rest. 

Theologians  in  Protestant  communities,  since  his  day, 
have  been  coming  out  more  and  more  from  under  the 
pressure  of  Romanist  ideas  which  caused  this  tendency  in 
Luther's  mind  ;  yet  for  a  long  time  they  followed  in  his 
footsteps,  not  having,  like  the  great  Reformer,  capacity  to 
strike  out  for  themselves  a  new  path  adapted  to  their  own 
circumstances. 

The  consequence,  in  part,  has  been  from  the  very  fact 
that  circumstances  have  not  required  so  great  stress,  or 
rather  so  much  insisting,  on  the  doctrine  of  justification  ; 
that  the  continual  harping  upon  it,  in  some  quarters,  has 
caused  a  still  more  unequal  estimate  of  its  relative  import- 
ance, and  a  neglect  of  the  other  equally  essential  doctrines  of 
true  repentance  and  a  holy  obedience.      One  of  the  activi- 


DISCOURSES.  69 

ties  of  faith  has  been  insisted  on  at  the  expense  of  the  others ; 
one  has  been  exalted  and  the  others  depressed.  Hence  has 
arisen  that  practical  mischief  of  which  I  have  spoken,  in 
which  men  have  substituted  justifying  faith  instead  of 
sanctifying  faith — that  "  faith  that  works  by  love  and  pu- 
rifies the  heart."  I  knoAv  it  will  be  said  by  some  that  the 
faith  of  such  men,  who  live  not  according  to  the  Gospel,  is 
not  sincere — not  true  faith  ;  but  I  am  prepared  to  show  that 
it  is  or  may  be  sincere,  and  a  true  faith,  while  at  the  same 
time  it  is  an  impious  presumption  before  God,  and  cannot 
justify,  because  "  faith  without  works  is  dead,"  profitless, 
and  "by  works  a  man  is  justified,  and  not  by  faith  only." 

Before  closing  these  remarks,  there  is  another  reason, 
which  should  be  mentioned,  for  desiring  a  solution  of  the 
question,  '*  what  is  faith  *?"  and  that  is  found  in  the  indis- 
tinctness which  prevails  as  to  the  perception  of  its  moral 
quality,  or  wherein  its  moral  quality  consists. 

Much  has  been  said  to  explain  why  God  requires  faith 
of  His  creatures,  what  is  the  virtue  of  it,  wherein  it  is  a 
holy  exercise ;  and,  as  far  as  my  knowledge  extends, 
without  distinct  and  perfectly  satisfying  results. 

But  a  distinct,  analytic  knowledge  of  what  faith  is, 
would  certainly  answer  this  question,  since  the  knowledge 
of  all  its  elements  and  sources  involves  the  knowledge  of 
that  element  or  motive  source  which  constitutes  it  an  exer- 
cise of  virtue.  And  it  is  hardly  too  much  to  say,  that  this 
knowledge  cannot  be  obtained  in  any  other  way  than  by 
the  analysis  of  faith  itself.  It  will  not,  surely,  be  doubted, 
whether  such  a  knowledge  is  desirable.  How  else,  except 
by  mere  general  analogy,  can  we  answer  the  cavils  of  a 
man  who  demands  that  God  should  give  him  certain 
knowledge  as  the  ground   of   His  action  ?  and  how  else 


70  DISCOURSES.. 

can  we  attain  full  satisfaction  for  ourselves,  and  assign  to 
faith  its  proper  place  in  the  moral  system  of  God's  realm  ? 
Analogy  may  silence  our  objections  ;  it  cannot  satisfy  our 
doubts,  or  our  desires  to  understand. 

I  have  now  made  some  allusion  to  the  confusion  and  in- 
distinctness in  men's  ideas,  generally,  of  faith,  and  endea- 
vored to  present  to  you  some  reasons  which  seem  to  demand 
a  more  thorough  and  definite  analysis  of  its  nature.  It 
is  my  design,  under  Providence,  to  prosecute  this  subject ; 
and,  in  the  second  place,  to  test  some  of  the  various  defini- 
tions which  have  been  given  of  faith  ;  thirdly,  to  give  a 
new  definition  of  it ;  fourthly,  to  test  that  definition ; 
fifthly,  to  show  when  and  how  faith  has  moral  quality ; 
and,  sixthly,  to  show  the  various  applications  of  faith,  (in 
other  words,  the  various  kinds  of  faith,)  their  moral  qual- 
ity, and  the  character  they  give  to  the  soul, — including  its 
application  to  natural  and  to  spiritual  things,  and  the  fact 
that  ail  religious  acts  are  wholly,  or  in  part,  acts  of  faith  ; 
also,  faith  in  God,  His  truth  and  Providence  ;  and  faith  in 
Christ,  regenerating,  justifying  and  sanctifying,  with  spe- 
cial reference  to  the  doctrine  of  the  text,  that  Christ  is  the 
great  object  of  faith  by  which  the  world  must  be  saved. 

I  conclude  my  present  remarks  with  one  observation. 
The  view  which  we  have  taken  of  the  obscurity  and  error 
which  prevails  on  the  subject  of  faith,  shows  us  the  import- 
ance to  religion  of  a  true  and  intelligible  philosophy  of 
mind.  It  is  only  by  understanding  the  nature  of  his  soul, 
and  its  ways  of  action,  that  man  can  settle  those  great 
questions  which  are  constantly  arising,  touching  the  nature 
and  the  ground  of  obligation,  and  touching  the  corres- 
pondence, therefore,  of  revelation,  to  the  laws  written  in 
the  structure  of  the  soul.     The  fact  that  all  these  ques- 


DISCOURSES.  71 

lions  run  back,  at  last,  to  the  nature  and  laws  of  mind, 
and  the  fact  that  man  is  capable  of  introspection,  and  so 
of  learning  the  nature  of  those  laws,  sufficiently  demon- 
strate the  need  of  a  true  philosophy  of  mind,  at  least  on 
the  part  of  all  those  who  would  be  teachers  of  religion  or 
morals,  and  help  thoughtful  and  inquiring  spirits  onward 
in  their  way  to  glory.  Let  no  timid  and  narrow-minded 
believer,  then,  try  to  lay  his  embargo  upon  thought,  and 
object  to  the  young  preacher  of  the  Gospel,  that  his 
mind  tends  too  much  to  philosophy.  There  is  a  true  phi- 
losophy, as  well  as  a  false ;  and  if  a  sincere  and  honest 
heart  cannot  find  it,  or  help  to  find  it,  then  woe  be  to  this 
world,  for  the  philosophy  of  Heaven  shall  not  prevail,  but 
the  philosophy  of  earth  shall  fight  against  it,  and  against 
the  kingdom  of  our  Lord,  for  ever.  May  God  forbid,  for 
His  name's  sake ! 


DISCOURSE     II. 


Faith — Definitions  Examined. 

John  vi.  29  :  "  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them,  This  is  the 
work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  Him  whom  He  hath  sent.^' 

The  inquiry  raised  in  the  former  discourse  upon  this  text — 
the  inquiry,  "  IVhat  is  it  to  believe  f — ought  not,  as  has  been 
stated,  to  be  difficult  of  reply  ;  for  the  direction  in  the  text 
was  intended  by  our  Lord  as  a  plain  answer  to  the  mo- 
mentous question  which  had  been  asked  Him.  Practically, 
as  has  also  been  observed,  and  naturally,  the  direction 
would  not  be  difficult  to  be  understood  ;  but  owing  to  the 
peculiar  circumstances  in  which  the  great  doctrine  of  jus- 
tification by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  struggled  into  light  in 
these  latter  days,  and  the  coloring  with  which  that  doc- 
trine became  consequently  invested,  a  mystery  has  been 
thrown  around  the  simple  form  of  faith,  both  in  theory, 
and  by  natural  result,  in  practice. 

Having  considered  this  fact,  and  the  mischiefs  resulting 
from  it,  and  the  need  consequently  arising  of  a  better  un- 
derstanding of  the  nature  of  faith,  Ave  come  now, 

II.  To  examine  some  of  the  answers  which  have  been 
attempted  to  this  question :  in  other  words,  to  test  some  of 
the  definitions  which  various  writers  have  given  of  faith. 

It  should  be  observed  here,  that,  subjectively  considered, 
or  with  reference  to  the  mind,  two  kinds  of  faith  are  gen- 
erally acknowledged,  one  of  which  is  called  *•'  historical," 


DISCOURSES.  73 

or  "speculative,"  consisting  in  a  bare  assent  of  under- 
standing to  an  alleged  truth,  with  or  without  some  corres- 
ponding emotion  ;  the  other  is  the  kind  of  faith  spoken  of 
in  the  Scnptures,  and  with  which  our  present  inquiry  is 
wholly  concerned.  This  latter,  or  Scriptural  faith,  is  of  a 
practical  or  voluntary  nature,  as  appears  from  three  consider- 
ations :  first,  we  can  conceive  of  no  sort  of  faith  which 
shall  differ  at  all  from  a  mere  ^'historical  faith,"  except  one 
which  shall  contain  a  voluntary  element ;  second,  the 
Scriptures  evidently  treat  the  faith  of  which  they  speak 
as  a  practical  matter — as  something  which  men  volun- 
tarily exercise,  or  refuse  to  exercise — "  this  is  the  work  of 
God,  [i.  e.,  what  God  requires]  that  ye  believe :  "  if  ye  be- 
lieve not.  .  .  .ye  shall  die  in  your  sins  ;"  and,  thirdly,  no 
otherwise  than  as  a  voluntary  affection,  can  faith  be  a  vir- 
tuous exercise,  or  a  matter  of  obligation.* 

Scriptural  faith,  then,  or  that  with  which  our  present 
inquiry  is  wholly  concerned,  is  a  practical  or  voluntary 
faith,  as  distinguished  from  a  mere  historical  belief.  This 
being  premised,  let  us  notice  some  of  the  definitions  which 
have  been  given  of  it.  These  definitions,  however,  we 
must  here  observe,  are  none  of  them  general  definitions  of 
practical  faith  ;  but  only,  so  far  as  I  have  seen,  definitions 
of  that  particular  application  of  practical  religious  faith,  by 
which  a  man  is  justified  before  God, — variously  termed 
evangelical^  justifying^  or  saving  faith.  This  want  of  a  gen- 
eral definition  of  practical  faith,  seems  to  have  given  rise 
to  the  error,  anions:;  theoloo!;ical  writers,  of  confoundiig  all 
kinds  of  religious  faith,  or  all  those  exercises  of  faith 
spoken  of  in  the  Bible,  with  that  particular  application  of 
it  by  which  is  procured  the  forgiveness  of  sin.     Not  see- 

*  See  ^  few  opinions  cited  in  support  of  this  view,  Appendix,  Note  B. 


74  DISCOURSES. 

ing  distinctly  the  nature  of  faith  itself,  they  have  failed  to 
see  distinctly  the  nature  of  its  different  applications,  and 
their  different  objective  and  subjective  effects.  Not  seeing 
that  justifying  faith  is  only  one  of  these  applications,  and 
purely  objective  in  its  consequences,  they  have  sought  to 
give  such  a  definition  of  it  as  would  embrace  all  the  exer- 
cises of  religious  faith  and  all  its  consequences. 

Thus,  one  says,  '"justifying  or  saving  faith  is  an  entire 
confidence  or  trust  in  God's  character  and  declarations,  and 
in  the  character  and  doctrines  of  Christ,  with  an  unre- 
served surrender  of  the  will  to  his  guidance,  and  depend- 
ence on  his  merits  for  salvation."  Another  says,  "  saving 
faith  is  a  realizing,  cordial  (or  confiding)  belief  in  (or  assent 
to)  the  entire  testimony  of  God." 

These  definitions  plainly  include  almost  all  the  forms 
and  exercises  of  religious  ftiith — faith  in  the  holiness  of 
God,  faith  in  His  infinite  knowledge  and  power,  and  in  His 
Providence,  as  well  as  faith  in  His  atoning  sacrifice.  But 
though  the  former  are  all  necessary  in  the  justified  soul, 
just  as  repentance  is  necessary,  yet  it  is  manifestly  faith  in 
.the  atonement  alone  that  delivers  from  the  penalty  of  past 
transgressions  ;  and  this  alone,  therefore,  is  properly  called 
"justifying  faith." 

But  if  the  definitions  noticed  embrace  most  or  all  kinds 
of  religious  faith,  may  they  not  be  taken  as  definitions  of 
religious  faith  in  general,  and  may  we  not  examine  them  in 
this  light  ?  What,  then,  shall  be  said  to  them  as  such  ? 
"  Religious  faith  is  a  confiding  belief  in,  or  assent  to,  the 
entire  testimony  of  God." 

This  definition  may  be  correct,  but  it  is  of  no  value,  ex- 
cept to  the  compiler  of  a  dictionary.  It  is  not  philosophi- 
cal, but  lexical.     It  does  not  analyze  faith,  and  so  show  us 


DISCOURSES.  7fi 

what  it  is,  by  revealing  the  parts  of  which  it  is  composed  ; 
it  only  calls  it  by  another  name.  It  does  not  reveal  to  him 
whose  understanding  assents  to  the  truth  that  Christ  died 
for  him,  but  whose  heart  dees  not  feel  peace  in  it,  how  he 
must  obtain  that  peace — what  he  ihust  do  to  believe.  It  will 
not  instruct  the  believer,  nor  aid  the  inquirer,  nor  answer 
any  religious  purpose. 

The  other  definition  is  somewhat  better,  as  it  makes  an 
attempt,  at  least,  at  analysis  :  "  Confidence  in  God  and  His 
Word,  and  submission  of  will  to  His  guidance." 

'But  there  are  difficulties  with  this,  also.  In  the  first 
place,  it  is  not  sufficiently  analytic,  and  does  not  show  the 
relation  even  of  the  parts  mentioned,  to  one  another* 
"  Confidence,"  as  here  employed,  denotes,  evidently,  a  com- 
plex state  of  mind ;  and,  supposing  it  to  be  easily  under- 
stood, yet  the  great  question  is,  how  does  it  arise  in  the 
mind,  and  what  is  the  relation  between  it  and  the  act  of 
the  will  ?  Must  one  feel  perfect  confidence  before  he  sub- 
mits to  God  ?  How,  then,  shall  he  feel  it  ?  If  he  has  it 
not,  and  it  does  not  come  from  the  act  of  the  will  submit- 
ting to  God,  how  shall  he  attain  it,  so  as  to  exercise  faith "? 
If  it  does  come  from  the  act  of  the  will,  hoiu  ^  and  what, 
in  this  case,  is  the  act  of  the  will  based  on  ?  The  defini- 
tion throws  no  light  on  the  subject.  Indeed,  it  seems 
rather  to  convey  the  idea  that  the  feeling  of  confidence 
must  precede  the  act  of  the  will  and  be  the  basis  of  it,  and 
so  makes  faith  an  impossibility  where  confidence  does  not 
first  exist. 

Again,  this  definition  does  not  express  the  grounds  of 
faith— its  relation  to  reason  and  to  virtue.  If  it  be  said 
that  the  grounds  of  faith  are  implied  in  the  mention  of  the 
character  and  declarations  of  God,  it  must  be  replied,  on 


76  DISCOURSES. 

what  principle  are  we  to  believe  the  evidence  for  the  as- 
serted character  and  declarations  of  God,  rather  than  the 
evidence  against  them?  There  is  no  hint,  in  the  definition, 
of  the  existence  of  such  a  principle  ;  and  no  hint,  there- 
fore, of  the  ultimate  grounds  of  faith,  or  its  ultimate  rela- 
tion to  reason  and  to  moral  excellence.  This  definition, 
therefore,  is  not  sufficient.  It  will  not  instruct  the  be- 
liever, nor  help  the  inquirer,  nor  silence  the  infidel. 

It  must  also  be  said,  that  while  it  is  too  general  for  jus- 
tifying  faith,  it  is  not,  in  strictness,  sufficiently  comprehen- 
sive for  a  definition  of  religious  faith,  since  it  will  not  ap- 
ply to  faith  in  the  existence  itself  of  God ;  which  is,  in- 
deed, the  corner  stone  or  the  sub-stratum  of  all  other  ar- 
ticles of  religious  faith. 

The  same  objection  applies  also  to  the  definition  previ- 
ously noticed,  and  to  several  others  which  may  now  be 
given.  "  Faith,"  says  a  distinguished  teacher  of  theology, 
"is  a  firm,  cordial  belief  in  the  veracity  of  God — or  a  full 
and  affectionate  confidence  in  the  certainty  of  those  through 
which  God  has  declared,  and  because  he  has  declared 
them."  Says  another,  "Faith  is  an  affectionate  practical 
confidence  in  the  testimony  of  God." 

But,  taking  these  definitions  even  in  the  extent  to  which 
they  are  applicable,  the  saioe  objections  apply  to  them  as 
the  one  first  treated.  They  are  not  analytic.  They  merely 
substitute  "  confidence"  "  or  belief"  for  the  word  "faith," 
and  add  a  few  epithets  which  distinguish  Scriptural  from 
historical  faith,  without  pointing  out  the  elements  of  that 
distinction  or  of  the  faith  so  distinguished.  They  do  not 
tell  us  what  "  practical  confidence"  is,  nor  how  it  is  more 
intelligible  than  practical  faith.     They  do  not  instruct  the 


DISCOURSES.  77 

believer,   nor  direct  the  inquirer,  nor  silence  the  infidel. 
They  are  of  some  use  doubless  to  the  lexicographer  !* 

"The  faith  of  tlie  Gospel,"  says  Dr.  Dwight,  "is  that 
emotion  of  the  mind  which  is  called  trust  or  confidence, 
exercised  toward  the  moral  character  of  God,  and  particu- 
larly of  the  Saviour." 

If  the  word  "  emotion"  is  here  used  in  strictness,  the 
definition  is  not  correct,  for  it  excludes  the  voluntary 
element  which  always  enters  into  Scriptural  faith.  But 
if  the  word  be  taken  loosely,  to  denote  a  complex  state  of 
the  mind,  the  definition,  like  the  others,  is  only  lexical, 
while  it  is  more  faulty  than  the  others  in  being  more  re- 
stricted in  its  application. 

Another  definition  of  faith  is,  "  an  influential  helief  of  the 
testimony  of  God."  This  plainly  means  a  belief  which  in- 
fluences the  mind  to  action ;  and  is  the  same  with  the  fol- 
lowing definition,  which  is  also  found — "  that  firm  belief 
of  God's  testimony  which  influences  the  will."  Plainly, 
these  definitions  entirely  exclude  any  voluntary  element 
from  faith  itself,  holding  the  volition  to  be  only  the  result 
of  faith. 

But  passing  over  this  error  as  perhaps  only  an  inaccu- 
racy of  language,  the  great  objection  to  these  definitions  is, 
that  they  make  the  determination  of  the  will  wholly  a  con- 
sequence of  the  feeling  of  confidence,  and  thus  cut  off  all 
possibility  of  believing  from  those  who  have  not  that  feel- 
ing ;  at  least,  until  in  some  unknown  manner  they  have 
obtained  it.  This  is  saying  to  such  persons,  that  their  dif- 
ficulty or  their  sin  does  not  consist  in  their  not  believing, 
— for  they  cannot  believe  ;  but  in  their  not  doing  some- 
thing else  which  would  make  them  believe — which  is  absurd. 

*  These  -writers  and  some  others  define  faith  as  if  it  were  belief  only  in  the  tes- 
timony or  in  the  veracity  of  a  person  or  persons — which  is  too  narrow. 


78  DISCOURSES 

Other  definitions  of  saving  faith  are,  that  it  is  "  coming 
to  Christ,"  "looking  to  Him,"  "receiving  Him."  But 
these  are  only  lexical  definitions,  couched  in  figurative 
language,  and  needing  explanation  at  least  as  much  as  the 
thing  defined. 

One  further  definition  only  will  I  now  notice,  and  it  is 
one  far  superior  to  the  others.  It  is  found  in  Tholiick,  in  his 
note  on  John  iii.  36,  and  is  as  follows  :  "  Faith  is  a  sub- 
mission to  something  which  is  objectively  higher  in  respect 
to  knowledge  and  will,  and  therefore  includes  obedience." 
That  is,  as  I  understand  it,  faith  is  a  determination  to  do 
the  will  of  one  seen  to  be  superior  in  knowledge  and  good- 
ness. The  excellence  of  this  definition  consists  in  the  fact 
that  it  exhibits  distinctly  the  voluntary  element  of  faith,  and 
as  proceeding  upon  a  proper  ground.  It  says  to  that  class 
of  inquirers  who  assent  to  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God, 
and  yet  are  not  believers,  "  go,  act  vpon  it,  submit  to  His 
guidance,  and  obey  him,  and  you  will  be  believers."  Herein 
it  says  truly ;  and  the  truth  is  a  most  valuable  one. 

But  it  has  also  some  defects.  It  does  not  seem,  indeed, 
to  be  designed  as  a  general  definition  of  religious  faith,  but 
only  of  one  form  of  it — that  faith  in  the  Son  of  God  by 
which  we  receive  the  gifts  of  God's  grace  flowing  to  us 
through  him.  It  is  not,  therefore,  sufficiently  abstract  to 
answer  the  purposes  of  a  general  definition,  and  does  not 
throw  such  light  upon  all  the  questions  concerning  faith 
as  we  desire.  It  does  not  exhibit  the  nature  of  the  connec- 
tion of  faith  and  reason.  In  other  words,  it  does  not  point 
out  the  nature  and  conditions  of  that  intellectual  assent 
which  it  supposes,  nor  its  exact  relation  to  the  act  of  faith. 
This  intellectual  assent  is  acknowledged  to  be  involuntary ; 
and  behind  this  fact  the  unbeliever  sometimes  shelters  him- 


DISCOURSES.  7gi 

self,  and  denies  his  obligation  to  believe ;  and  without  a 
better  knowledge  of  the  whole  nature  of  faith  we  cannot 
dislodge  him.  An  exact  comprehension  of  the  nature  of 
the  assent  and  of  the  whole  ground  of  faith,  as  we  shall 
see  hereafter,  would  drive  out  the  unbeliever  from  this 
hiding-place,  and  silence  the  sneer  of  the  infidel ;  but  that 
comprehension  this  definition  does  not  give,  and  though 
it  gives  the  ground  of  faith,  it  does  not  give  it  analytically, 
and  show   us  those  elements  which  it  is  necessary  to  see. 

The  definition  is  also  incomplete,  if  regarded  as  a  phi- 
losophical definition,  because  it  gives  no  account  of  the 
feeling  of  confidence  which  is  an  element  in  religious  belief, 
nor  of  its  relation  to  the  act  of  faith. 

With  these  defects,  however,  the  author  spoken  of  is 
not  chargeable,  as  he  had  not  undertaken  to  give  a  general 
and  philosophical  definition  of  faith.  1  speak  of  them 
only  as  things  wanting  to  our  knowledge,  and  which  that 
definition,  excellent  as  it  is,  does  not  supply.  Let  me,  how- 
ever, give  it  the  praise  to  say,  that  if  I  have  fallen  upon  a 
true  account  of  faith,  that  definition  was  one  of  the  steps 
that  led  me  to  it. 

In  the  discussion  of  the  various  definitions  of  faith  which 
have  now  been  noticed,  my  remarks  have  been  protracted 
to  a  greater  extent  than  was  at  first  designed.  But  they 
will  not  prove  without  profit,  if  they  have  so  convinced 
you  of  the  real  need  of  a  better  understanding  of  the  sub- 
ject than  has  generally  prevailed,  that  you  will  be  prepared 
truly  to  welcome  any  new  light  which  may  be  thrown  upon 
the  subject,  and  to  treasure  up  in  your  hearts  the  truth. 
For  great  will  be  the  bearing  of  that  truth  upon  your  des- 
tiny in  this  life  and  in  that  which  is  to  come.  Faith  is 
the  foundation-wall  of  religion,  the  great  totality  of  godli- 


80  DISCOURSES. 

uess.  "  If  je  believe  not,  ye  will  die  in  your  sins."  And 
yet,  notwithstanding  the  magnitude  of  this  subject,  and  the 
many  attempts  which  have  been  made  to  elucidate  it,  a 
writer  of  some  eminence,  who  has  doubtless  read  with  at- 
tention most  of  what  has  been  written  upon  the  nature  of 
faith,  uses  this  language  concerning  it :  "  While,  by  turn- 
ing the  mind  in  upon  itself  we  know  what  faith  is,  [z.  e, 
every  man  knows  practically  what  it  is  to  believe,]  we 
are  nevertheless  not  able  to  define  it."* 

But  the  difficulty  is,  perhaps,  not  so  great  in  the  pre- 
sent state  of  knowledge,  as  this  writer  has  supposed.  A 
definition  can  be  given,  I  trust,  which  will  silence  the  infidel, 
satisfy  the  philosopher,  and  be  intelligible  to  a  child.  For 
the  present,  however,  I  conclude  with  a  single  observation. 

In  view  of  our  discussion,  we  see  a  remarkable  illustra- 
tion of  the  adaptedness  of  the  Gospel  to  human  wants  ; — 
that  while  so  much  (obscurity  has  prevailed  theoretically 
on  the  nature  of  faith,  thousands  and  ten  thousands  of  the 
simplest  minds  have  been  taught  of  Christ  practically  to  be- 
lieve," and  believing  have  rejoiced,  with  joy  unspeakable 
and  full  of  glory."  The  difficulties  which  have  been  thrown 
in  their  way  may  have  hindered  or  obstructed  many,  but 
they  could  not  wholly  prevent  the  efficacy  of  the  mighty 
drawing  with  which  He  who  was  "  lifted  up"  has  "  drawn 
all  men  to  Him."  Christ  is  not  only  the  great  object  of 
faith,  but  He  is  also  the  great'  source  of  faith,  the  mighty 
argument  of  a  God  of  grace,  who  careth  for  the  creatures 
He  has  made.  "  Blessed  are  they  that  have  not  seen  '•  Him" 
and  yet  have  believed."  And  to  "  Jesus,  the  author  and 
finisher  of  our  faith,"  be  everlasting  thanks  from  innumer- 
able hosts  of  His  redeemed.     Amen ! 

*  Upham's  Life  of  Faith,  p.  15. 


DISCOURSE     III. 


Faith — True   Definition. 

Hebrews  xi.  1  :    '^  Noiv  faith  is   the   substance   of  things 
hoped  for,  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen^ 

Having  noticed,  in  the  two  former  discourses  upon  this 
text,  the  obscurity  which  prevails  respecting  the  nature  of 
Faith,  and  having  examined  such  definitions  of  it  as  have 
been  accessible  to  me,  I  come  now,  according  to  the  plan 
proposed, 

III.   To  set  forth  a  new  definition  of  it. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  two  kinds  of  faith  have  been 
noticed  in  the  course  of  this  discussion,  viz.  :  (1)  historical 
or  speculative  faith,  consisting  of  an  intellectual  assent  to  a 
proposed  truth,  with  or  without  such  emotion  as  such  a 
truth  fitly  produces  in  the  mind,  according  to  the  state  of 
that  mind  ;  and  (2)  Scriptural  faith,  which  was  shown  to  be 
a  voluntary,  practical  faith. 

With  the  latter  alone,  as  was  also  stated,  we  are  at 
present  concerned.  It  is  Scriptural,  practical,  voluntary- 
faith,  of  which  we  now  seek  a  definition. 

It  is  proper  here  to  premise,  that  the  object  of  faith  is 
always — to  speak  with  philosophical  accuracy — some- 
thing set  forth  as  a  truth.  It  is  common,  indeed,  to  speak 
of  beings  and  entities  as  objects  of  faith,  and  the  language 
is  therefore  proper,  though  not  designed  as  philosophically 
exact.     Thus,  we  speak  of  faith  in  God.     But  by  this  Ian- 


82  DISCOURSES. 

guage  we  mean  some  truth  set  forth  or  asserted  concerning 
God  ; — either  Plis  existence,  or  His  goodness,  or  His  prov- 
idence over  us,  or  some  other  truth  ;  or,  perhaps,  all  of 
these.  So,  too,  the  sick  man  may  say  that  he  has  faith  in 
a  certain  medicine  :  by  w^hich  he  means,  he  has  faith  in 
the  supposed  truth  that  this  medicine  has  curative  power. 

Faith,  then,  let  it  be  remembered,  has  always  for  its  ob- 
ject something  set  forth  as  aJruth  ;  or,  to  use  a  more  con- 
venient expression,  some  proposed  truth. 

In  defining  faith,  I  propose  now  to  give,  in  the  first 
place,  a  complete  and  philosophically  exact  definition,  which 
will  exhibit  the  whole  subject ;  and,  after  elucidating  this, 
to  add  a  more  brief  and  simple  definition,  exhibiting  the 
voluntary  element  perspicuously,  or  just  what  one  must  do  to 
believe  ;  and  this  will  be  intelligible,  I  trust,  to  every  mind, 
even  that  of  a  child.  I  observe,  then,  practical  faith  is  a 
complex  state  of  mind,  consisting  of  an  intellectual  assent 
to  the  probability  of  a  proposed  truth,  or  of  the  evidence 
by  which  it  is  supported,  with  the  determination  to  act  upon 
it,  in  view  of  said  probability,  and  of  the  motives  by  which 
it  (the  truth)  is  accompanied,  and  with  a  corresponding 
emotion  of  the  heart.* 

♦  A  twelfth  Discourse  was  presented  by  the  Author,  on  the  subject  of  faith, 
consisting  mostly  of  recapitulation .  In  the  form  of  notes,  and  inserted  extracts, 
it  may  partly  answer  the  purpose  of  the  revision  which  he  designed.     He  says  : 

'*  In  addition  to  what  has  now  been  said,  it  should  also  be  remarked,  that  when 
faith  in  general  is  spoken  of  in  the  inspired  writings,  it  is  not  faith  in  general 
which  is  meant,  nor  even,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  religious  faith  in  general  ; 
"bMX  faith  in  some  particular  truth 

"  The  same  thing  is  true,  also,  in  many  of  the  religious  writings  of  our  times  ; 
and  the  fact  that  the  writers  generally  do  not  themselves  perceive  it,  that  they 
do  not  distinguish  between  the  general  principle  of  faith  and  those  forms  of  it 
which  they  have  mentioned,  is  one  of  the  causes  of  the  confusion  and  obscurity 
so  common  in  their  ideas  and  language.  One  man  may  have  faith  in  the  un- 
varying goodness  of  God  ;  another,  in  the  all-disposing  providence  of  God  ; 
another,  in  Hia  ordering  all  events  to  carry  out  perfectly  His  own  desires  ;  and 


DISCOURSES.  83 

In  elucidation  of  this  definition,  it  will  be  necessary, 
first,  to  notice  the  nature  of  evidence,  and  the  fact  that 
there  may  be  probable  evidence  both  far  and  against  a  pro- 
posed truth. 

Evidence  in  behalf  of  any  proposition,  consists  in  an 
array  of  facts  which  necessarily  or  apparently  involve  in 
them  the  truth  of  that  proposition.  If  it  be  seen  that  that 
truth  is  necessarily  involved,  i.  e.,  that  the  contrary  is  im- 
possible, the  evidence  is  called  demonstrative.  Such  is  the 
evidence  by  w^hich  mathematical  propositions  are  sup- 
ported. 

But,  an  array  of  facts  may  apparently  involve  a  certain 
truth  ;  that  is,  it  may  be  seen  that  that  truth  will,  wholly 
or  in  part,  account  for  those  facts,  while  no  other  truth  is 
seen  to  be  certainly  the  true  account  of  them.  This  is  of 
the  kind  called  probable  evidence,  to  distinguish  it  from  the 
other,  called  demonstrative,  and  is  of  the  kind  upon  which 
most  human  actions  proceed.* 

[Most,  if  not  all,  the  truths  upon  which  men  are  called 

another,  in  His  power  and  purpose  to  recover  this  world  from  sin.  All  these  are, 
truly  enough,  men  of  faith — that  is,  of  a  certain  kind  of  faith.  But  they  should 
not  all  be  spoken  of  in  the  same  terms,  aa  though  their  faiths  were  identical ; 
for  the  faith  of  one  is  a  very  different  thing  from  the  faith  of  the  others. 

"Faith  may  consist  in  an  individual  act,  or  in  a  continued  state  of  mind; 
either  way,  it  is  composed  of  three  elements  :  an  intellectual  assent  to  the  prob- 
ability of  a  proposed  truth,  with  a  determination  to  act  upon  it,  and  accompany- 
ing and  resulting  feeling  of  assurance  therein." 

*  "  Probability  is  the  very  guide  of  life."  This  statement  of  the  author  of  the 
"Analogy"  cannot  be  objected  to  if  it  receive  a  common-sense  interpretation. 
It  can  only  be  abused  by  utter  perversion  into  the  Probabilism  of  the  Jesuits. 
We  are  told,  indeed,  by  the  author  of  "  Letters  from  Spain,''  that  the  Probabil- 
ioristae,  or  those  who  insist  on  taking  the  more  probable  side,  are  scarcely  better 
than  the  Probabilistae.  "The  French  proverb,  Le  mieux  est  Vennemi  du  bien, 
is  perfectly  applicable  to  the  practical  effects  of  these  two  systems  in  Spain." 
But  this  results  from  sheer  indifference  to  truth,  or  a  love  of  the  probable  bt- 
eause  it  is  uncertain.'-[£D. 


84  DISCOURSES. 

to  act  in  this  world,  are  probable  truths ;  that  is,  they  are 
not  necessarily  true,  to  human  knowledge ;  their  contrary 
is  possible.  There  may  be,  also,  in  the  case  of  many,  some 
evidence  against  their  reality ;  but  there  must  be,  to  con- 
stitute them  probable  truths,  evidence  in  their  favor  which 
the  understanding  adjudges  to  be  more  weighty.] 

But  again  :  there  may  be  several  distinct  series  or  classes  of 
facts,  each  of  which  apparently  involves  the  proposed  truth. 
In  this  case,  the  weight  of  the  evidence  is  greatly  aug- 
mented, the  ratio  of  probability  from  the  whole  being 
equal  to  the  multiplied  ratios  of  each  distinct  series.  In 
this  way,  this  kind  of  evidence,  though  called  "probable," 
to  distinguish  it  from  demonstrative  evidence,  may  become 
so  stronoj  as  to  admit  of  no  doubt  in  the  mind. 

The  two  opposing  probabilities,  furthermore,  may  be  of 
the  same,  or  of  different  degrees.  If  of  the  same,  the  un- 
derstanding, looking  at  them  both,  will  assent  to  neither 
conclusion  ;  but  if  of  different  degi-ees,  the  understanding 
will  assent  to  the  conclusion  which  has  the  greater  weight 
of  probability  in  its  favor,  and  with  a  confidence  propor- 
tioned to  the  disparity. 

[When,  however,  the  understanding  has  so  adjudged  re- 
specting any  proposed  truth  of  a  practical  nature,  it  is  still 
a  distinct  question  whether  the  person  to  whom  it  is  pro- 
posed will  act  upon  It,  or  refuse  to  act.  This  he  is  to  de- 
termine in  view  of  the  motives  which  prompt  him.  These 
motives  may  be  derived  from  what  will  be  the  conse- 
quences of  such  action,  if  it  shall  turn  out  to  be  a  real 
truth ;  and  they  may  also  be  derived,  in  part,  from  what 
will  be  the  consequences  of  such  action,  even  supposing  it 
should  not  be  real. 

Thus,  a  man  may  be  moved  to  act  upon  the  truthfulness 


DISCOURSES.  85 

of  the  teachings  and  claims  of  Christ,  by  the  eternal  re- 
ward and  punishment  which  are  to  follow  obedience  and 
disobedience,  if  those  teachings  and  claims  are  true  ;  and 
also  by  the  perceived  fact,  that  by  so  acting,  whatever  else 
may  be  true  of  those  claims,  he  will  be  using  the  best 
means  which  the  world  affords,  to  make  himself  and  other 
men  better  and  happier  for  this  life. 

He  may  be  moved,  on  the  other  hand,  to  reject  the  claims 
of  Christ,  or  to  act  on  the  supposition  of  their  falsity,  by 
all  the  inducements  which  the  world  can  offer  to  his  cov- 
etousness,  or  his  ambition.  And  this  he  may  do,  likewise, 
even  though  his  understanding  adjudged  the  evidence  to  be 
in  favor  of  those  claims. 

But  if  he  does  otherwise,  if  he  acts  upon  the  truth  of 
those  claims,  the  more  evidence  he  sees  in  their  favor,  the 
more  will  the  eternal  reward  have  to  do  with  his  decision ; 
and  the  less  evidence  he  sees,  the  more  will  he  be  left  to 
those  motives  which  come  from  the  righteousness  of 
Christ's  commands  and  the  practical  tendency  of  faith 
in  Him. 

The  evidence,  therefore,  in  favor  of  a  proposed  truth, 
while  it  may  influence,  does  not  necessarily  determine  the 
action  which  the  mind  shall  take  upon  it.] 

But,  in  order  to  elucidate  our  definition  a  second  fact 
must  now  be  noticed.  As  the  mind  is  a  susceptible  agent, 
it  must  have,  while  in  a  sound  condition,  some  degree  of 
feeling,  however  slight,  in  view  of  every  probable  truth 
which  demands  its  action.  This  feelino;  is  a  feelino;  of  as- 
surance,  called,  when  directed  to  pleasing  truths,  trust,  or 
confidence.  From  the  nature  of  the  case,  however,  this 
feeling  is  not  the  same  before  and  after  the  purpose  of  act- 
ing on  the  truth,  since  its  ohject,  by  such  a  purpose,  becomes 


86  DISCOURSES. 

changed.  Before  the  purpose  of  acting,  it  is  confidence 
that  such  and  such  a  thing  might  be ;  after  the  purpose,  it 
is  confidence  that  such  a  thing  luill  be.* 

Concerning  this  feeling  of  assurance,  trust  or  confidence, 
however,  four  things  must  be  said.  (1st.)  It  may  be  very- 
slight,  owing  to  unfavorable  habitudes  of  the  mind,  and  to 
weakness  of  intellectual  assent  or  seen  probability.  (2d.) 
Other  thoughts,  attended  with  much  more  powerful  emo- 
tions, may  so  keep  crowding  into  the  mind  that  a  man 
may  not  be  reflectively  conscious  of  having  this  feeling  of 
confidence  in  any  degree.  (3d.)  This  feeling  will  increase 
by  acting  on  the  truth  to  which  it  is  directed.  It  will  in- 
crease for  two  reasons — first,  because,  by  acting  on  the 
truth,  the  attention  will  be  more  forcibly  and  exclusively 
turned  toward  it ;  and,  second,  because  new  evidence  will 
be  continually  presenting  itself  to  the  mind,  to  confirm  the 
probability  of  the  truth.  No  man,  at  any  time  of  his  life, 
can  say,  concerning  any  important  practical  proposition  or 
doctrine,  that  he  has  seen  all  the  facts,  and  had  all  the 
thoughts,  which  it  is  possible  to  see  and  to  have,  that  go  to 
establish  its  truth.  When,  therefore,  he  has  decided  to  act 
upon  its  truth,  and  does  so  act,  his  attention  being  turned 

*  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  there  is  a  certain  feeling  of  confidence  often  pre- 
ceding the  act  of  faith,  and  this  feeling  is  often  called  faith.  But  this  feeling  is 
always  distinguishable  from  the  real  feeling  of  faith  ;  for  it  is  always  a  feeling 
of  satisfaction  in  view  of  the  proposition  that  such  a  thing  ivould  be ;  while  the 
feeling  of  faith  is  a  feeling  of  satisfaction  in  view  of  the  proposition  that  such  a 
thing  will  be.  But  a  feeling  may  by  many  be  thought  to  precede  the  act  of  faith, — 
which  it  does  not;  for  the  act  of  faith  is  not  necessarily  an  outward  act,  btft  the 
purpose  of  the  heart,  made,  perhaps,  long  anterior  to  the  outward  act,  in  which 
it  is  afterwards  to  be  embodied. 

The  habitual  feeling  of  confidence  which  dwells  in  the  mind  of  one  of  fervent 
faith,  is  not  the  primal  source  of  those  acts  of  faith  which  are  exhibited,  and 
which  may  seem  to  flow  from  it  alone  ;  there  is  in  the  mind,  at  the  same  time,  an 
habitual  state  of  the  will,  a  fixed  and  general  choice,  which  enables  the  mind  to 
feel  as  it  does,  and  from  which  the  individual  acts  of  faith  proceed. 


DISCOURSES,  87 

to  it,  new  thoughts  will  be  continually  arising  in  his  mind, 
confirming  its  assent,  and  so  deepening  its  feeling  of  confi- 
dence in  its  adopted  way.  (4th.)  One  thing  more  must  be 
said  concerning  this  feeling  of  confidence :  it  may  vary 
very  much  at  diiferent  times,  owing  to  doubts  arising  from 
contemplated  difficulties,  or  to  different  states  of  suscep- 
tibilities, and  may,  indeed,  in  some  cases,  never  become  a 
full  and  perfect  confidence ;  while  at  the  same  time,  however, 
tlie  heart  may  never  swerve  from  it,  never  let  go  its  hold  of  it, 
as  a  principle  of  action.* 

*  In  putting  fonh.  a  definition  of  Scriptural  or  practical  faith,  it  is  not  asserted 
"or  implied  tliat  the  word  is  always  used  among  men,  or  even  in  Scripture,  in  the 
broad  and  full  sense  which  is  here  given  to  it.  Like  every  othei  word  express- 
ive of  a  mental  act  or  state,  its  use  may  be  more  or  less  general  or  specific  ;  and 
when  specific,  it  m.ay  drop  some  of  those  elements  which  are  essential  to  it  in 
other  cases.  Thus  we  sometimes  apply  the  term  to  a  certain  arA  winch  we  wit- 
ness, without  any  direct  reference  to  any  emotion  as  connected  with  it ;  and  at 
other  times  we  speak  of  the  mere  feeling  of  confidence  under  the  same  appel- 
lation, without  thinking  at  all  of  any  act  or  purpose  as  occasioning  or  follow- 
ing it. 

So,  very  commonly  among  Christian  writers  or  speakers,  and  sometimes  in 
the  New  Testament,  the  term  is  used  to  denote  the  feeling  of  confidence  in  God. 
An  expression  of  this  is  found  in  Matt.  xvii.  20,  where  Christ  replies  to  the  dis- 
ciples, who  had  asked  him  why  they  could  not  cast  out  the  dumb  spirit,  "  be- 
cause of  your  unbelief,"  or  want  of  faith.  The  act  of  faith  the  disciples  had 
evidently  performed,  by  trying  to  cast  him  out ;  and  this  act  was  doubtless  at- 
tended with  some  degree  of  conviction.  But  their  preceding  and  habitual /eeiing' 
of  confidence  in  God  was  so  feeble,  that  God  saw  fit  to  rebuke  them  for  it,  seeing 
that  they  ought  to  have  gained  a  livelier  confidence,  by  more  constantly  commu- 
ning with  Him  and  making  trial  of  His  goodness.  And  this  feebleness  of  hab- 
itual confidence,  marking  a  poverty  of  spiritual  attainment,  Christ  here  terms 
unbelief.  The  same  use  of  the  word  is  quite  common,  also,  among  Christian 
writers  and  speakers  of  the  present  day,  and  will  doubtless  always  be  common. 

Again,  however,  we  speak  of  faith  very  often  with  a  principal  reference  to 
one  of  its  elements,  but  really  embracing  them  all.  When  we  see  a  man  en- 
counter a  grievous  and  sore  trial  accompanied  with  strong  temptation  to  swerve 
from  the  purpose  of  godliness,  and  find  him  holding  fast  his  allegiance  and  man- 
ifesting a  feeling  of  firm,  and  lively,  and  joyous  confidence  in  God,  we  may 
speak  with  admiration  of  his /oi^A;  and,  according  lo  our  own  circumstances, 
or  the  connection  and  bent  of  our  thoughts,  we  shall  do  so  with  our  attention 
principally  directed  to  the  feeling — or,  on  the  other  hand,  to  the  purpose — which 


88  DISCOURSES. 

We  are  now  prepared,  I  trust,  to  understand  and  to  see 
the  correctness  of  the  definition  of  faith  which  has  been 
given. 

When  a  proposition  is  presented  to  the  mind  of  a  man 
as  a  truth,  and  as  one  upon  which  he  must  act,  either  as 
being  true  or  as  being  false ;  and  w*hen  his  understanding 
assents  to  the  proposition  as  a  probable  truth,  or,  looking 
at  the  evidence,  assents  to  the  evidence  as  probable ;  and 
when,  in  view  of  the  motives  which  he  sees  pointing  to  such 
a  course,  he  determines  to  act  upon  that  proposition  as 
though  it  ivere  true, — this  assent  of  the  iinderstanding  and 
this  purpose  of  the  heart,  with  that  feeling  which  must  neces- 
sarily follow  such  an  assent  and  such  a  purpose,  be  it  more 
or  less — this  assent,  purpose  and  feeling,  I  say,  are  faith — 
practical  faith. 

Before  the  mind  forms  this  determination  or  purpose, 
the  feeling  of  assurance  or  confidence  may  be  so  slight,  in 
presence  of  other  and  more  powerful  feelings,  as  not  to  be 
known  to  exist ;  but  after  the  purpose  is  formed,  it  will  in- 
crease ;  and  the  longer  the  mind  continues  to  act  upon  its 
adopted  truth,  the  deeper  and  stronger  (other  things  being 
equal)  will  this  feeling  become. 

The  feeling  of  confidence,  therefore,  is  not  directly  to  be 
sought  for,  or  to  be  deemed  a  pre-requisite  to  faith.  In 
this,  as  in  all  other  cases,  let  the  heart  do  right,  and  it  will 
eventually  feel  right.      1  repeat  then,  practical  faith  is   a 


we  witness  ;  in  either  case,  however,  we  shall  not  of  necessity  wholly  exclude 
from  our  minds,  in  using  this  word,  the  other  idea  which  is  at  the  same  time 
presented  to  us.  We  may  think  most  of  the  happy  confidence  which  he  enjoys  ; 
but  we  shall  not  wholly  lose  sight  of  his  firm  fidelity  of  will ; — or  we  may  think, 
most  of  his  unwavering  obedience ;  but  we  shall  not  forget  the  deep  and  trust- 
ful peace  of  his  heart.  We  shall  mean  by  faith  all  that  properly  belongs  to  it, 
though  one  of  its  elements  may  be  prominent  in  our  view. 


DISCOURSES.  89 

complex  act  or  state  of  mind,  consisting  of  an  intellectual 
assent  to  the  probability  of  a  proposed  truth  or  of  the  evi- 
dence by  which  it  is  supported,  with  the  determination  to  act 
upon  it  in  view  of  the  motives  which  prompt  to  such  a 
course,  and  tvith  that  feeling  of  assurance,  which,  in  greater 
or  less  degree,  necessarily  follows  such  assent  and  determi- 
nation ;  or,  to  put  the  definition  in  a  better  shape  for 
practical  purposes,  as  putting  the  voluntary  or  practical 
element  foremost — 

Practical  faith  is  acting  upon  a  proposed  truth  in  which  the 
mind  sees  some  probability,  and  of  which  it  has  therefore 
some  feeling  of  assurance ;  or,  more  simple  still,  and  suffi- 
cient for  common  purposes — 

Faith  in  a  truth,  is  acting  upon  it  as  true. 
Is  there  a  child  here,  old  enough  to  understand  any  de- 
finition whatever,  who  cannot  understand  this"? 

Let  me  present  here  an  illustration  of  faith  which  is  fre- 
quently employed,  which  will  both  illustrate  this  definition 
and  show  its  correctness,  though  the  latter  I  purpose  to  do 
more  fully  hereafter.  A  little  girl  was  standing  by  the 
side  of  a  trap  door  which  opened  through  the  floor  of  the 
room  into  the  cellar.  She  looked  down,  but  as  the  cellar 
was  dark  she  could  see  nothing.  Presently,  however,  she 
heard  a  voice  speaking  to  her  from  out  of  that  dark  place, 
and  knew  it  was  the  voice  of  her  father.  "  My  daughter," 
said  the  voice,  "  I  am  here  below  you — ^jump  down,  and 
I  will  catch  you  in  my  arms." 

The  little  girl  hesitated.     She  looked  down  again  into 
the  darkness,  and  could  see  nothing,  and  she  feared  to  leap. 
"My  daughter,"  said  the  voice  again,  "  do   you   not  be- 
lieve me  ?     Your  father  is  here— jump  down,  and  you  will 

5* 


90  DISCOURSES. 

be  safe  in  my  arms."  She  looked  again — she  sprang — and 
was  caught  with  delight  to  the  bosom  of  her  parent. 

Now  this,  we  are  told,  is  faith.  She  believed  what  her 
father  told  her.  Unquestionably  this  is  correct.  This 
was  certainly  faith — but,  it  was  acting  upon  what  her  father 
told  her,  and  neither  more  nor  less. 

She  acted  upon  her  father'' s  words  as  true — and  this  was, 
believing  her  father's  words.  How  surprising,  that  so 
many  have  used  this  or  similar  illustrations  to  show  what 
faith  is — ^illustrations  which  do  show  exactly  what  it  is — and 
yet  have  not  perceived  it  to  be  just  that  simple  thing  which 
they  have  shown  it  to  be — acting  on  the  truth. 

[We  will  now  briefly  consider  those  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture which  bear  upon  our  subject. 

Those  texts  should  be  first  noticed  which  may  seem  to 
some  to  conflict  with  the  views  advanced.  Such  are  the  texts 
which  may  appear  to  teach  that  God  is  the  Author  or 
Giver  of  faith  in  the  human  heart ;  and  one  especially 
which  some  understand  to  deny  that  it  is  the  act  of  man 
himself  Says  Paul  to  the  Ephesians  (ii.  8,  9) :  "  By 
grace  are  ye  saved,  through  faith ;  and  that  not  of  your- 
selves ;  it  is  the  gift  of  God :  not  of  works,  lest  any  man 
should  boast." 

But  Paul  is  not  speaking  o£  faith,  but  of  salvation,  when 
he  says  "  this  is  not  of  yourselves,  but  is  the  gift  of  God." 
This  is  evident  from  two  facts :  first,  that  the  word  ren- 
dered "  that"  in  our  common  version,  but  which  I  have 
rendered  "  this,"  is  of  a  different  gender,  in  the  original 
Greek,  from  the  word  "  faith,"  and  cannot  therefore  refer 
to  it,  unless  a  change  of  style  be  supposed,  for  which  there 
is  here  no  reason,  and  of  which  there  is,  I  believe,  in  all 
the  rest  of  Paul's  M^itings,  no  example  ;  and,  second,  that 


DISCOURSES.  91 

to  suppose  it  to  mean  faith,  is  to  make  the  succeeding  clause 
totally  without  meaning.  What  idea  can  be  attached  to  the 
words,'  as  used  by  Paul,  that  "  faith  is  not  of  works,  lest 
any  man  should  boast  f  when  every  one  knows  that  these 
are  the  two  distinct  grounds  of  justificr.tion  which  he  every- 
where treats  of  as  things  confessedly  opposite.  But,  when 
he  has  said,  "  this  salvation  is  not  of  yourselves — it  is  the 
gift  of  God,"  that  he  should  add,  "it  is  of  faith  and  not  of 
works,  lest  any  man  should  boast,"  is  perfectly  intelligible. 

Paul  does  not,  therefore,  in  this  passage,  deny  that  faith 
is  of  ourselves. 

But  even  admitting  that  he  does,  however,  and  that 
other  passages  also  teach  that  God  is  the  author  of  faith  in 
the  human  heart,  still  all  this  does  not  overthrow  or  attack 
the  principles  advanced.  God  is  truly  the  author  of  Faith, 
even  as  He  is  the  author  of  all  virtue  or  goodness,  by  giving 
all  those  means  and  influences  by  which  it  is  produced. 
And  in  this  sense,  man  is  not  the  author  of  his  own  faith. 
Yet  is  it  truly,  nevertheless,  his  own  exercise ;  the  act  of 
his  own  mind  and  heart.  And  the  fact  that  the  Scriptures 
require  it  of  him,  as  the  condition  of  salvation,  implies  this, 
and  is  proof  that  they  do  not  intend  to  deny  it.  Before, 
however,  leaving  this  point,  it  should  be  noted  also,  that  in 
several  instances  of  the  use  of  the  word  "  faith"  in  the  New- 
Testament  Epistles,  it  plainly  signifies  some  miraculous  gift, 
and  not  that  moral  exercise  which  is  the  subject  of  our 
discussion. 

With  regard  to  the  Apostle  Paul's  usage  of  the  term 
"  faith,"  I  next  remark,  one  fact  needs  to  be  particularly 
noticed  whenever  we  inquire  into  his  teachings  on  this  sub- 
ject. WTiile  it  is  more  frequently  found  in  his  writings 
than  in  any  other  part  of  the  New  Testament,  it  is  seldom, 


92  DISCOURSES. 

and  I  believe  never,  found  in  them  with  the  general  mean- 
ing of  religious  faith,  but  generally  or  always  as  denoting 
faith  in  some  specific  truth.  When  speaking  of  faith  as 
justifying  the  believer  in  Jesus,  he  means  faith  in  the  aton- 
ing blood  of  Christ.  But  Abraham's  faith,  to  which  he 
also  refers,  was  faith  in  the  truthfulness  of  God  to  fulfil 
His  promises.  The  influence  of  this  faith  is  parallel  to  the 
influence  of  the  Christian's  justifying  faith,  to  which  he 
compares  it,  only  in  the  fact  that  being  both  religious  faith 
they  possess  moral  quality,  and,  according  to  their  extent, 
secure  the  approbation  of  God. 

But  now  when  Paul  had  taught  that  penitent  sinners 
are  justified,  that  is,  forgiven,  by  faith  in  Christ's  atoning 
blood,  and  when  some  in  that  age,  overlooking  the  fact 
that  Paul  was  speaking  only  of  penitent  sinners,  began  to 
exercise  faith  in  the  doctrine  that  they  could  be  saved  by 
believing  in  Christ  without  repentance,  or  the  forsaking  of 
sin,  the  Apostle  James  steps  forw^ard  and  denies  that  faith 
alone,  that  is,  such  a  faith  as  this,  can  save  men  ;  and  asserts 
that  a  religious  faith  which  has  not  fruits  of  holiness  or 
works  of  love,  is  a  dead  or  spurious  faith,  without  saving 
influence.  While  his  language,  therefore,  appears  to  con- 
tradict the  language  of  Paul,  he  is  only  denying  that  which 
Paul  never  meant  to  assert.  The  use  which  the  Apostle 
John,  also,  makes  of  the  term,  is  very  different  from  that 
of  Paul.  It  has,  in  his  Epistle,  its  broadest  religious  sig- 
nificance, though  often  applied  to  Christ  as  comprehending 
in  himself  the  whole  sum  of  religious  truth.  "  This  is  the 
victory,"  he  says,  "that  overcometh  the  world;  even  our 
faith.  Who  is  he  that  overcometh  the  world,  but  he  that 
believeth  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God  ?"• 

With  the  notice  of  one  more  text  of  Scripture  we  will 


DISCOURSES.  *93 

close  our  discussion.  Says  the  writer  to  tlie  Hebrews  (xi.  1), 
according  to  our  version,  "  Faith  is  the  substance  of  things 
hoped  for,  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen."  If  this  trans- 
lation has  any  meaning  at  all,  I  have  never  been  able  to 
discover  it.  The  Greek  word  vTroaraGcg-  means,  that  which 
is  laid  down  as  a  foundation ;  or,  next,  the  act  of  laying 
down  (something)  as  a  foundation  ;  i.  e.,  taking  something 
as  a  foundation,  or  resting  upon  it.  The  word  translated 
"  evidence,"  means  rather  "  conviction."  Rightly  inter- 
preted, then,  the  verse  would  read  thus :  "  faith  is  the  re- 
lying upon  things  hoped  for,  the  conviction  of  things  not 
seen."*     But  the  writer  evidently  means,  relying  in  one^s 

*  "  We  must,  with  the  best  modem  expositions,  take  VTrdoTaaij,  not  in 
the  sense  of  substance,  (which  is  generally  assigned,)  but  of  firm  covfidence ; 
(as  2  Cor.  ix.  4,  xi.  17.)  So  the  Pesch.  Syriac  well  renders  :  '  Est  autem  fides 
persuasio  de  rebus  illis  quae  sunt  in  spe,  ac  si  jam  esseut  actu.  .And  so  Tyndall  : 
*  Faythe  is  a  sure  confydence,'  &c, — "YXsyxog.  Firma  persuasio.  Kuinoel, 
So  also  Chrysostom  :  ttIotis  eig  rfiv  av-riv  roTs  bpcoiihois  (ptpci  n\7ipo([)opLav 
ra  lif)  opdjyitva.  Thustatth  is  both  a  disposition  and  a  principle." — Ep.Blcomfield. 

Augustine  renders  vnoaTaaig  by  convictio.  Tract.  79  in  Joan,  cited  by 
Aquinas,  Summa.  ii.  2,  q.  4,  1.  'YTrdoraoij  and  '^'^syXOi  are  synonymous 
in  this  passage,  and  signify  ^r7?ia  persuasio.     Knapp.  Chr.  Theol.  ^  cxxii. 

"  The  moral,  comprehensive,  and  universal  indication  of  religious  conscious- 
ness is  faith.  It  is  the  unity  of  sensation  and  perception  of  susceptibility  and 
spontaneity  in  matters  of  religion.  It  is  through  Christianity  alone  that  the  no- 
tion of  faith  has  so  pervaded  science  and  general  culture.,  as  to  be  regarded  as 
the  fundamental  character  and  essential  function  of  religious  life  ;  wherefore 
faith  in  its  general  or  philosophical  meaning  can  only  be  apprehended  according 
to  the  analogy  of  its  strictly  Christian  meaning.  A  trace  of  the  correct  gener- 
alization is  to  be  found  in  Hebrews  xi.  1.  Yet  not  as  though  vnoaraaK;  and 
tXeyXoi  were  merely  the  energies  of  reflection  and  intellectual  syllogizing. 
The  usual  explanation,  that  faith  consists  in  maintaining  as  true  the  super- 
sensual  derived  from  subjective  yet  conclusive  grounds,  does  not  reach  its  es- 
sence. Thus  we  simply  perceive  that  faith  in  some  way  differs  from  opinion  in- 
adequately grounded,  and  from  knowledge  ;  but  we  do  not  perceive  that  it  is  an 
original,  yet  at  the  same  time  a  free  act  of  the  subjective  spirit;  nor  that  it  is 
a  believing  with  the  heart,  Kap6ia  yap  nicrTtvsrai,  (Rom.  x.  10);  nor  that 
v6r]aii  6ia  rrlaTEOJi  or  Trt<TT£i  voeiv,  k.  t.  \.     (Heb.  xi.  3) ,  is  the  earlier  and  more 


94  DISCOURSES. 

actions  on  things  hoped  for.  The  verse  there  is  exactly 
equivalent  to  the  definition  given,  as  applied  to  the  objects 
of  religious  faith,  that  religious  faith  is  acting  on  the  reality 
of  things  hoped  for  and  unseen,  with  a  feeling  of  confidence 
in  the  same.  It  is  religious  faith  in  general,  as  exhibited 
in  the  godly  man,  the  somewhat  mature  Christian,  of  which 
the  writer  is  speaking.  Abel,  Enoch,  and  Noah,  Abra- 
ham, Isaac,  Jacob  and  Moses,  all  acted  upon  the  reality 
of  those  unseen  things  which  God  had  declared  to  them ; 
all  lived  with  a  heart-full  confidence  therein.  And  such  a 
life  is  the  mark  of  a  sei^ant  of  God.  Such  is  the  aspect 
which  his  habitual  conduct  presents:  "relying  upon  things 
hoped  for  ;  calmly  convinced  of  things  not  seen."  To  such 
a  life  also  the  Gospel  conducts.  To  believe  in  Jesus  is 
thus  to  live.  And  thus  shall  a  man  "  work  the  works  of 
God,"  by  learning  to  "believe  on  Him  whom  He  hath 
sent." 

We  see  from  the  exhibition  of  the  voluntary  nature  of 
faith  which  we  have  made,  how  it  is  that  the  duty  of  ex- 
ercising faith  is  consistent  with  the  great  principle  running 
through  all  the  pages  of  Holy  Scriptures,  which  makes 
WHAT  A  MAN  DOES  the  grouud  of  his  acceptance  with  God, 
or,  of  his  condemnation.  "  For  we  must  all  appear  be- 
fore the  judgment-seat  of  Christ,  that  every  one  may  re- 
ceive the  things  done  in  his  body ;"  and  faith  is  no  excep- 
tion. 

What  a  man  does,  is  the  activity  of  his  faith  ;  and  the 
God  he  believes  in,  is  that  God  whom  in  his  life  he  serves 

immediate  fact  which  precedes  and  lies  at  the  foundation  of  dialectic  and  demon- 
stration ;  and  in  this  relation  the  nature  of  faith  has  heen  strikingly  treated  by 
Dr.  David  Schultz,  in  his  '  Christian  Doctrine  of  Faith .' "  (A  New  Treatment  of 
the  question,  What  is  Faith,  and  who  are  the  Unbelievers  ?) — [A  work  to  which 
we  have  not  access. — Ed.]  Nitzsch,  Chr.  Doc.  ^  9.— See  also  Appendix,  Note  D. 


DISCOURSES.  95 

There  is  faith  in  a  "  doctrine  according  to  godliness," 
and  "  he  that  believeth  shall  be  saved  ;"  and  there  is  a  faith 
in  such  as  seem  given  over  to  "believe  a  lie,  that  they  all 
might  be  damned  who  believe  not  the  truth  but  have  pleas- 
ure in  unrighteousness."  From  such  a  faith,  dear  reader, 
may  God  turn  off  your  heart,  if  it  is  yours  ! 


DISCOURSE    ly. 


Faith — Its  Moeal  Quality. 
Galatians  v.  6  :    "  Faith,  which  worketh  hy  love  " 

We  now  propose  to  test  that  definition  of  faith  which 
was  given  in  the  previous  discourse  upon  this  text,  and  to 
show  how  and  when  this  principle  has  moral  quality. 
This,  it  will  be  remembered,  constitutes  the  fourth  and  fifth 
general  divisions  of  the  subject  we  are  engaged  upon,  as 
announced  in  the  opening  discourse.     Let  us  then, 

IV.   Test  the  definition  of  faith  now  given. 

It  is  not  proposed,  under  this  head,  to  enter  upon  a  gen- 
eral examination  of  the  definition,  with  reference  to  its 
competency  to  solve  all  those  questions  which  have  been 
asked  concerning  faith,  and  to  silence  the  sneers  which  have 
been  flung  out  against  it ;  all  these  things  will  be  attended 
to  in  their  proper  places,  as  we  proceed  ;  and  it  is  hoped 
that  the  view  given  will  remove  all  difficulty  from  the  sub- 
ject, in  all  its  bearings.  Still,  however,  the  question  may 
arise.  Is  it  a  true  view "?  and  this  question  I  would  first  at- 
tempt to  answer.  "  Faith,"  I  have  said,  "  is  the  ■purpose  of 
acting  upon  a  proposed  truth,  in  which  the  mind  sees  some 
probability,  with  more  or  less  of  the  feeling  of  confidence  in 
the  same."  Independently,  then,  of  that  evidence  which 
the  analysis  carries  with  it,  the  truth  of  this  definition 
may  be  ascertained  by  applying  to  it  two  questions  or  tests  : 
first,  Is  there  any  element  in  that  state  of  mind  answer- 


DISCOURSES.  97 

ing  to  this  definition,  which  does  not  exist  in  faith  ?  and, 
second,  Is  there  any  element  in  faith  which  is  not  found 
here? 

First,  then,  is  there  any  element  in  the  state  of  mind 
answering  to  the  definition,  which  does  not  belong  to  faith  ? 

The  chief  of  these  elements  is,  the  purpose  of  acting 
upon  the  truth  believed.  But  this  is  an  acknowledged  ele- 
ment of  Scriptural  faith.  In  all  that  is  said  of  the  latter, 
to  distinguish  it  from  historical  or  speculative  faith,  this,  if 
not  distinctly  seen,'  is  plainly  implied. 

As  has  been  already  observed,  there  is  no  other  possible 
ground  of  distinction  between  the  two  kinds  of  faith,  but 
that  the  one  has  in  it  a  voluntary  element,  and  the  other 
has  not.  And  what  else  can  that  voluntary  element  con- 
sist in,  than  in  the  purpose  of  acting  according  to  the  truth 
believed  ?  Nay,  even  if  there  were  a  thousand  other  pur- 
poses in  a  man's  mind,  respecting  a  proposed  practical 
truth,  and  the  purpose  of  acting  according  to  it  were  not 
there,  it  is  plain  enough  he  would  not  be  a  practical  be- 
liever in  the  truth. 

As  to  the  other  elements  of  our  definition  of  faith,  the 
assent  of  the  understanding  and  the  feeling  of  confidence, 
none  will  dispute  that  these  are  essential  parts  of  a  true 
and  full  faith. 

But  secondly,  what  has  faith  in  itself  which  is  not  found 
in  the  elements  of  this  definition,  or  in  the  state  of  mind 
described  by  it '?  Has  faith  an  intelligent  view  of  the  truth 
proposed,  and  assent  to  it '?  So  has  this.  Has  faith  a  feel- 
ing of  satisfaction  in  that  truth,  a  sentiment  of  repose  in 
if?  So  has  this.  And  yet  it  is  manifest  that  as  in  this 
state  of  mind,  so  in  faith,  that  feeling  of  confidence  may 
at  times  be  feeble,  and  much   disturbed  by  opposing  emo 


98  DISCOURSES. 

tions,  while  all  the  time  the  heart  never  relaxes  its  purpose 
of  action. 

And  has  Scriptural  faith,  also,  a  voluntary  element  ? 
Is  it  a  practical  faith  ?  a  belief  that  produces  correspond- 
ing results  in  action  ?  So  is  this.  And  there  is  in  faith 
no  other  assignable  element,  no  other  activity  of  the  intel- 
lect, or  heart,  or  will,  but  these  which  have  been  men- 
tioned. It  follows,  therefore,  if  these  things  are  true,  that 
the  definition  of  faith  which  has  been  given,  having  no 
other  element  than  such  as  are  found  in  faith,  and  having, 
also,  all  the  elements  that  belong  to  faith,  is  a  true  and  com- 
plete definition.  How  satisfactory  it  may  be,  will  be  more 
distinctly  seen  hereafter,  as  -has  been  intimated  ;  yet  it 
must  be  evident  at  a  glance,  that  it  is  sufficiently  analytic 
to  afford  materials  with  which  to  build  up  a  plain  doctrine 
of  faith,  and  to  remove  the  difficulties,  if  such  a  thing 
be  at  all  possible,  with  which  the  subject  has  been  sur- 
rounded. 

To  remove  some  of  these  difficulties  is  our  next  busi- 
ness ;  or,  in  the  order  of  our  discussion — 

V.  To  show  how  and  when  faith  has  moral  quality  ;  in  the 
exhibition  of  which  will  also  be  seen  its  relation  to  reason, 
or  the  place  which  it  occupies  among  the  acts  of  the  soul, 
considered  as  a  rational  power. 

The  great  facts  or  principles  which  lie  at  the  basis  of 
this  discussion,  are,  briefly,  these  :  that  men  are  sometimes 
(at  least)  called  to  act  upon  proposed  truths  which  are  sup- 
ported only  by  probable  evidence,  and  which  may  be  op- 
posed in  like  manner  ;  and  that  their  action  upon  these 
truths  is  determined  in  view  of  motives  lying  on  one  side 
and  on  the  other.     It  is  plainly  to  be  seen,  that  some  of 


DISCOURSES.  09 

these  motives  may  give  to  the  action  which  is  based  upon 
them  a  moral  quality. 

Now  in  such  a  case  as  this :  it  is  evident,  that,  seeing  on 
the  whole  a  probability  of  the  truth  of  the  proposition 
that  one's  family  are  in  danger,  even  though  one  may  be 
unable  to  account  for  the  contrary  evidence, — he  who  re- 
fuses to  exercise  faith  in  the  proposition,  and  remains  where 
he  is,  acts  morally  wrong.  He  refuses  to  do  the  good 
which  he  sees  would  be  done  by  his  going,  whether  the 
proposition  should  prove  true  or  false,  viz. :  the  good  to  his 
neighbors;  and  he  is  thus  guilty  of  sin — not  sin  because 
he  may  not  feel  such  and  such  a  degree  of  confidence  in 
the  proposed  truth,  but  sin  because  he  will  not  act  as  if  it 
were  true,  knowing,  as  he  does,  that  he  may  accomplish  a 
good  purpose  by  so  doing.* 

*  In  the  following  remarks  the  author  assigns  to  repentance  a  similar  relation 
to  faith. —  [Ed. 

"  The  great  insisting  on  faith  as  the  condition  of  pardon  which  is  often  heard , 
in  the  case  of  those  who  acknowledge  the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  is  utterly  out  of 
place,  and  only  makes  difficulty  and  darkness.  It  is  repentance  which  is  wanted 
— faith  already  exists,  except  the  element  of  it  which  is  found  in  obedience,of 
which  repentance  is  the  first  step. 

"  The  sinner  who  believes  that  God  forgives  for  Christ's  sake,  who  assents  to 
this  as  a  doctrine  of  the  Scriptures,  which  he  acknowledges  to  be  the  Word  of 
God,  only  needs  to  repent,  and  to  ask  mercy  for  Christ's  sake.  He  must  be  told 
that  if  he  repents,  and  asks  pardon  in  Christ's  name,  he  is  forgiven,  and  that 
there  is  a  sense  of  pardon  or  forgiveness  which  he  can  have — and  that  he  should 
not  cease  praying  for  pardon,  imploring  God  to  show  him  if  he  has  not  wholly 
repented,  and  lead  him  [to]  repentance — till  he  feels  that  his  sins  are  forgiven. 
He  should  not  be  striving  after  faith,  but  after  repentance,  and  the  assurance  of 
forgiveness. 

"To  strive  for  faith,  is  like  a  stubborn  and  hungry  child,  who  has  been  told 
that  he  shall  have  bread  for  asking,  but  who  is  unwilling  to  ask,  crying  and  be- 
seeching his  father  to  give  him  a  voice,  so  that  he  can  ask.  The  voice  he  ha 
already  got ;  what  he  wants  is  to  use  it  to  ask  bread — a  submissive  heart,  to  be 
willing  to  ask.  So  what  such  a  sinner  wants  is  not  faith,  but  a  penitent  heart  to 
use  his  faith,  and  make  it  avail  for  him." 

See,  also,  the  Note  appended  to  Discourse  X. 


100  DISCOURSES. 

But  suppose,  on  the  other  hand,  that  he  exercises  faith 
in  the  proposition — that  he  goes  to  the  reUef  of  his  family. 
Now,  so  far  as  he  is  influenced  to  this  act,  by  the  consider- 
ation that  he  can,  at  all  events,  do  good  to  his  neighbors, 
so  far,  at  least,  it  has  a  virtuous  moral  quality. 

When  the  proposed  truth  before  the  mind  is  of  a  practi- 
cal nature,  i.  e.,  when  it  is  one  which  requires  that  the 
mind  should  act  upon  it  as  true,  or  act  upon  the  denial  of 
it, — the  motives  which  range  themselves  upon  the  opposing 
sides,  are  a  distinct  thing  from  the  two  opposing  arrays  of  evi- 
dence. So  true  is  this,  that  it  may  easily  be  shown  that 
they  are  by  no  means  always  proportioned,  even  in  import- 
ance or  rank,  to  the  iveight  of  the  evidence,  nor  always 
wholly  dependent  on  it. 

This  will,  perhaps,  be  best  seen  by  an  illustration.  You 
are  living,  we  will  suppose,  in  a  populous  town  or  city. 
While  at  your  place  of  business,  which  is  at  some  distance 
from  your  residence,  a  fire  breaks  out  in  the  town,  of  which 
you  have  ample  evidence  in  the  smoke  which  rolls  up  in 
the  distance,  and  "the  darting  flames,  and  the  confused  cries 
that  reach  you  from  the  spot.  Soon  you  perceive  that  the 
flames  are  making  great  havoc,  and  producing  a  scene  of 
great  distress  where  your  help  is  much  needed,  in  behalf  of 
those  who  are  brought  to  the  brink  of  ruin.  Being  told, 
however,  by  messengers  whom  you  have  sent,  that  the  fire 
is  at  some  distance  from  your  own  house,  and  moving  in 
the  contrary  direction,  and  having  some  business  on  your 
own  hands,  you  conclude,  not  without  some  struggles  of 
conscience,  to  remain  where  you  are.  But  here  comes  one 
of  your  own  neighbors,  almost  breathless  with  haste,  and 
tells  you  that  your  house  is  surrounded  by  the  flames,  and 
your  family  in  imminent  danger.     Now  what  will  you  do? 


DISCOURSES.  101 

Will  you  sit  at  your  desk,  gravely  weighing  the  evidence 
as  to  the  fact  of  the  danger  of  your  family,  counting  up 
the  figures  on  both  sides  till  you  have  ascertained  the  pre- 
ponderance of  probability,  and  then  proceeding  accord- 
ingly ?  No !  You  will  not  hesitate  a  moment,  if  you  are 
a  man.  You  will  run  !  And  why  ?  Because  the  magni- 
tude of  the  interests  involved  outweighs  all  considerations 
of  the  possibility  of  error,  and  electrifies  you  with  its  im- 
pulse to  action. 

Now  let  us  look  at  this  case  a  moment,  and  see  how  the 
facts  stated  a  few  moments  ago  are  involved  in  it.  Here 
is  a  proposed  truth  before  your  mind,  viz.  :  the  danger  of 
your  family  ;  and  it  is  a  proposition  upon  which  you  must 
acty  either  as  being  true  or  false.  There  is  on  each  side  a 
certain  amount  of  evidence ;  we  will  not  now  care  to  say 
how  much,  or  which  preponderates.  There  are,  also,  mo- 
tives on  both  sides :  on  the  one  side,  the  love  of  your  fam- 
ily, and  the  possibility,  even  if  you  should  find  them  safe, 
of  helping  other  distressed  families,  by  going  ;  on  the  other 
side,  there  is  the  desire  of  attending  to  your  business, 
which  you  can  do  by  staying  where  you  are. 

Now  it  is  manifest,  (1st)  that  the  motives  for  acting  as 
if  the  proposition  were  true,  and  the  motives  for  acting  as 
if  it  were  false,  are  distinct  matters  from  the  evidence  on  the 
two  opposing  sides ;  (2d)  that  these  motives  are,  by  no 
means,  necessarily  proportioned,  in  importance  or  rank,  to 
the  weight  of  that  evidence  ;  and  (3d)  that  they  are  not  all 
dependent,  in  any  wise,  on  that  evidence ;  for  whether  the 
proposition  be  true  or  false,  you  know  you  can  do  good 
by  going,  and  this  alone  should  be  motive  enough  for  your 
acting  on  it  as  if  it  were  true.  In  addition  to  these  prin- 
ciples, also,  another  (in  the  4th   place)  is  manifest,  viz. ; 


102  DISCOURSES. 

that  it  is  plainly  possible  to  act  on  that  side  of  the  ques- 
tion as  being  true  which  has  the  less  weight  of  evidence  in 
its  favor. 

And  I  wiU  here  so  far  make  an  application  of  these 
principles,  though  it  be  anticipatory,  as  to  add, — that  if  it 
be  an  evident  truth  that  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  when 
truly  obeyed,  is  a  blessing  to  mankind,  then  the  act  of  obe- 
dience or  disobedience — ^in  other  words,  the  act  of  faith  or 
unbelief  in  the  religion — possesses  a  moral  quality  alto- 
gether aside  from  the  question  of  its  truth  or  falsehood  ;* 
and  there  is  an  obligation  to  believe,  which  cannot  be  set 
aside  by  doubts  and  sneers  that  may  be  thrown  upon  it  by 
selfish  men. 

Here,  then,  we  see  how  and  when  the  act  of  faith  has 
moral  quality.  That  quality  arises  from  the  motives  which 
prompt  to  the  act.  And  whenever  those  motives  are  the 
dictate  of  righteousness  on  the  one  hand,  or  selfishness  on 
the  other,  then  the  act  of  faith,  according  as  it  obeys  or 
disobeys,  is  right  or  wrong. 

We  see  also  the  relation  of  faith  to  reason.  Faith  is  not 
something  severed  from  reason,  but  is  based  upon  it.  It 
is  an   act  of  the  will,   founded  upon  evidence  and  motive, 

♦  We  should  say,  rather,  during  the  pendency  of  this  question.  If  Chris- 
tianity shall  be  proven  false,  it  ■will  then  be  our  duty  to  reject  it,  notwithstand- 
ing whatever  wishes  that  it  were  true.  We  understand  the  argument  of  the 
writer  to  be  simply  this — that  there  should  be  a  prejudice  in  favor  of  what  is 
good,  and  that  the  religion  of  Christ  is  perhaps  true,  because  it  ought  to  be  true. 
That  he  does  not  here  condescend  to  the  pitiable  safe-side  argument  which  is  too 
often  advanced,  is  clear  from  the  following  remark  in  his  closing  discourse  : — 
"But  it  must  be  admitted,  however,  and  urged,  that  as  reason  is  the  light  of  the 
soul,  by  which  man  must  direct  his  steps  or  walk  in  darkness,  he  is  solemnly 
bound,  by  the  very  constitution  of  his  nature,  to  follow  in  his  action  the  laws  of 
evidence,  unless  the  higher  law  of  moral  rectitude  shall,  if  such  a  thing  be  pos- 
Bible,  oppose." —  [Ed. 


DISCOURSES.  103 

which  it  is  the  province  of  reason  to  scan — a  purpose  of  the 
heart  based  on  truth,  which  reason  must  reveal. 

Whether,  also,  a  man  act  on  the  one  side  or  the  other 
of  a  proposed  truth,  it  being  supported  by  probable  evidence 
and  opposed  only  by  the  same,  his  act  is  equally,  in  either 
case,  an  act  of  faith :  so  that  there  may  be  a  icicked  and  a 
selfish  faith  as  well  as  a  holy  and  a  righteous  one. 

It  was  observed  in  the  preceding  discourse,  that  the  act 
of  faith,  whether  accepting  or  rejecting  a  proposed  truth, 
is  not  always  put  forth  in  accordance  with  the  just  proba- 
bility in  the  case ;  or  in  other  words,  not  always  in  accord- 
ance with  the  greater  probability  of  evidence.  The  indi- 
vidual may  not  slwSijs  pause  to  weigh  accurately  the  whole 
evidence  on  either  side  before  deciding ;  and  there  are  cases 
where  virtue  does  not  require  it.  If  a  proposition  is  seen, 
by  being  received  as  truth,  evidently  to  tend  to  the  good 
of  mankind,  and  if  it  is  supported  by  evidence  sufficient  in 
itself  to  give  a  good  degree  of  probability  in  its  favor,  vir- 
tue requires  that  a  man  scan  not  too  particularly  whatever 
opposing  evidence  there  may  be,  but  proceed  to  act  upon 
it.  For,  the  fact  that  it  does  so  tend  to  the  good  of  man- 
kind, is  proof,  either  that  it  is  true,  or,  that  a  lie  is  better 
than  the  truth ;  in  either  of  which  cases  (if  indeed  the  lat- 
ter is  possible)  he  ought  to  go  forward  and  act  upon  it. 

This  is  the  great  reason  why  the  believer  in  Christ  feels 
that  he  needs  not  to  scan  particularly,  or  inquire  minutely, 
concerning  what  objections  may  be  brought  up  against  the 
truth  of  the  Gospel  history.  He  is  conscious  that  his  faith 
in  Christ  is  elevating  and  purifying  his  own  character,  and 
making  him  a  better  man  to  his  neighbor  ;  and  seeing  at 
least  sufficient  evidence  to  give,  in  itself  considered,  a  strong 
probability  of  the  correctness  of  his  faith,  he  is  resolved  to 


104  DISCOURSES. 

go  forward,  feeling  that  virtue  leadeth  him  by  the  hand, 
and  having  in  his  soul  a  peaceful  assurance  that  "  in  the 
way  of  righteousness  is  life." 

But  again,  there  may  be,  as  indeed  there  are,  cases  where 
men  act  both  against  the  greater  probability  and  the  mo- 
tives of  goodness,  either  without  weighmg  the  evidence  with 
proper  care,  or,  even  seeing  it  to  be  against  their  chosen 
way.  Such,  if  we  mistake  not,  is  the  case  with  the  rejec- 
ters of  Christianity. 

Those  who  reject  the  claims  of  Jesus  Christ  to  be 
their  Lord,  their  Teacher,  and  their  Saviour,  do  so,  not  for 
want  of  evidence,  but,  because  they  refuse  to  examine  that 
evidence,  or,  plainly  seeing  it  to  be  against  them,  they  are 
not  willing  to  adopt  those  holy  and  benevolent  principles' 
which  He  enjoins.  In  the  latter  case,  they  live  "  with  a  lie 
in  their  right  hand,"  knowing  it  to  be  such  and  know- 
ing it  to  be  evil,  yet  unwilling  to  give  it  up  and  to  love 
righteousness.* 

*  When,  furthermore,  a  man  has  begun  to  act  in  one  way  or  the  other  with 
regard  to  a  proposed  truth,  his  view  of  the  evidence  will  seldom  continue  the 
same  as  it  first  was. 

A  man's  attainments  in  knowledge  are  always  very  slight  compared  with  what 
may  be  known ;  and  most  knowable  things  affect  more  or  less  the  probability  of 
most  others.  The  longer,  therefore,  a  person  acts  upon  the  truth  or  falsity  of  a 
proposition,  looking,  as  he  will  look,  after  all  things  that  will  encourage  him  in 
it,  the  more  will  he  find  of  probable  evidence  to  support  him. 

Again,  true  faith,  as  has  been  defined,  always  includes  the  intellectual  assent. 
A  man  may,  indeed,  act  from  various  motives,  on  propositions  to  which  his  un- 
derstanding does  not  assent ;  but  he  has  not  then  faith.  After  acting  on  such  a 
proposition  for  some  time,  his  understanding  may  come  to  assent  to  it  in  the 
manner  just  indicated,  and  thus  his  activity  may  become  faith.  So  sometimes 
the  infidel,  who  at  first  does  violence  to  his  own  understanding  in  asserting  that 
tlie  Gospel  is  a  fable  and  that  there  is  no  hereafter,  and  who  does  not  believe 
this  doctrine  which  he  professes  and  acts  upon,  may  come  at  last  to  exercise  a 
real  faith  in  his  delusion. 

And  so,  very  frequently,  evil-minded  men  will  take  up  a  reproach  against  an- 
other, and  though  it  has  no  suitable  evidence  to  substantiate  it,  but  merely  be- 


DISCOURSES.  105 

The  principles  of  this  discussion  enable  us  to  see,  further, 
how  there  may  be  different  degrees  of  virtue  in  different 
men  in  the  same  act  of  faith.  When  a  proposed  truth  is 
before  the  mind,  there  may  be  various  motives  for  acting 
on  it : — motives  of  reward,  which  depend  wholly  on  its  being 
true,  andi  motives  of  piety  or  virtue,  which  exist  as?(ie  from  the 
direct  evidence  in  its  favor.  If  the  evidence  is  very  strong, 
the  motives  of  reward  may  occupy  a  large  place  in  the 
mind,  in  its  resolving  to  obey :  but  if  the  evidence  is  feeble, 
the  motives  of  piety  or  virtue  must  be  the  chief  reasons 
upon  which  the  mind  proceeds.  In  the  latter  case,  then, 
there  is  more  moral  excellence  in  obedience  than  in  the 
former.  This  explains  the  language  of  our  Lord  to  doubt- 
ing Thomas.  If  the  heart  of  Thomas  had  loved  the  moral 
elevation  of  the  character  of  Christ  as  it  ought,  and  been 
as  determined  to  a  life  of  obedience  to  His  teachings  as  it 
should  have  been,  he  would  not  have  been  so  hard  to  con- 
vince that  Christ  had  set  the  seal  of  the  divinity  of  His 

cause  it  chimes  in  with  their  own  passions  or  prejudices,  they  will  act  upon  it, 
and  soon  come  to  regard  it  witli  no  more  doubt  than  the  shining  of  the  sun. 
Who  has  not  heard  of  people  telling  lies  till  they  believed  themselves  ?  Thus 
it  was  that  the  Pharisees  ascribed  the  miracles  of  Christ  to  the  agency  of  devils. 
They  regard  him  with  so  much  hate  and  prejudice  that  they  see  in  his  wonder- 
ful works  of  love  only  the  evidence  of  his  alliance  with  hell. 

Because  intellectual  belief  is  directly  involuntary,  or  cannot  be  bent  to  this 
fiide  or  that  by  simple  choice,  many  have  inferred  that  the  belief  with  which  a 
man  lives  is  involuntary — that  he  may  practically  believe  one  proposition  or  an- 
other without  moral  quality.  But  the  principles  just  elucidated  show  how  er- 
roneous is  such  an  idea.  Men  may  act  against  the  real  decisions  of  reason  ;  and 
they  may  also,  by  so  doing,  in  process  of  time,  forgetting  the  probabilities  on  the 
one  side,  and  accumulating  those  on  the  other,  assent  to  what  they  once  knew 
to  be  a  falsehood.  It  is  not  always,  however,  that  the  guilty  errorist  does  such 
violence  to  his  understanding.  The  judgment  may  often  be  at  a  loss  to  decide 
between  conflicting  evidence,  till  the  moral  choice  steps  in  to  influence  the 
investigation.  When  evidence  is  seen  decidedly  to  preponderate,  of  cour.-;e 
belief  must  follow;  but  in  many  great  questions  it  is  not  so  seen  at  iirst.  and  the 
will  has  opportunity,  by  deciding  on  which  side  to  act,  to  lead  the  mind  on  to  & 
corresponding  judgment. 

6 


106  DISCOURSES' 

doctrines,  by  rising  from  the  dead.  He  would  hare  re- 
ceived at  once  with  joy  the  happy  intelligence,  and  been 
ready  without  hesitation  to  set  before  him  in  his  'path  of 
obedience  the  glad  hopes  which  such  an  event  was  calcu- 
lated to  give.  But  no ;  he  must  have  the  strongest  evidence 
before  he  would  obey.  Therefore,  said  Jesus  unto  him : 
"  Thomas,  because  thou  hast  seen  me,  thou  hast  believed : 
blessed  are  they  that  have  not  seen,  and  yet  have  believed.'^ 

I  conclude  this  discussion  with  one  inference  from  what 
has  been  said. 

The  faith  or  faiths  ivith  which  a  man  lives  in  this  world, 
depend,  other  things  being  equal,  on  the  state  of  his  heart. 

The  opinions  which  men  act  upon  in  life  depend  very 
much  upon  their  social  and  moral  preferences.  Many,  if 
not  most,  important  questions  upon  which  men  are  called 
to  act,  so  far  admit  of  two  sides  that  they  may  take  either 
by  an  act  of  choice,  deciding  by  the  motives  of  virtue  or 
indulgence,  benevolence  or  selfishness. 

Thus,  one  man,  traveling  with  his  team  on  a  long  jour- 
ney, will  rest  on  the  Sabbath,  acting  on  the  doctrine  (of 
the  truth  of  which  he  has  seen  some  evidence)  that  he  will 
gain  in  the  end  by  so  doing ;  being  persuaded  so  to  act,  in 
part  by  his  regard  to  what  he  considers  religious  duty  ;  and 
gaining  confidence,  by  so  acting,  in  the  truth  of  his  doc 
trine  ;  while  another  man,  having  precisely  the  same  evi- 
dence of  the  truth  of  that  doctrine,  will  not  believe  it,  will 
not  act  upon  it,  because  he  has  not  the  same  regard  for 
God  and  righteousness.  Here  is  a  diflference  of  faith, 
springing  not  from  difference  of  intellectual  views,  but  from 
a  difiference  of  the  heart.  And  when  I  look  abroad  upon 
the  world  and  see  the  different  moral  creeds  (I  say  not 
altogether  intellectual  creeds)  upon  which  men  act,  I  see  in 


DISCOURSES.  107 

them  the  index,  nor  merely  of  their  enlightenment,  but  of 
their  moral  poFition,  It  is  not  the  creed  that  forms  tJie  hearty 
— at  least  originally — hut  the  heart  that  forms  the  creed, 
"When,  therefore,  a  Hume,  or  any  of  his  class,  shall  sneer 
at  the  believer  in  Jesus,  I  will  say  to  him  :  If  the  evidence 
for  his  faith  be  so  feeble  as  you  assert,  then  the  nobler  and 
the  purer  is  the  heart  that  adopts  its  self-denying  pre- 
cepts ;  but  vi^hat  does  your  faith  show  your  heart  to  be  ? 
no  Christ !  no  soul !  no  holiness !  no  Heaven !  nothing  but 
earth,  sense,  self, — the  life  and  the  death  of  a  beast ! 

Dear  reader,  what  creed  will  you  adopt,  for  your  life  ? 
Will  you  be  a  follower  of  a  Hume  and  a  Voltaire  ?  or  will 
you  be  a  believer,  a  follower  of  Christ  % 


DISCOURSE     V. 


Faith — Its    General    Application. 

John  hi.  12  :  ^^  If  I  have  told  you  earihJy  things,  and  ye  he 
lieve  not,  how  shall  ye  believe  if  I  tell  you  of  heavenly 
things  ?"* 

Having  noticed  that  the  kind  of  Faith  of  which  the 
Sacred  Scriptures  speak  is.  generically,  a  practical,  in  dis- 
tinction from  a  theoretical,  faith,  we  have  now  seen,  in  an 
abstract  form,  what  this  practical  faith  is,  and  how  it  may 
possess  a  moral  quality.  We  have,  for  our  future  task 
upon  this  subject,  to  make  an  application  of  the  principles 
elicited  in  the  preceding  discussion  ;  or,  according  to  the 
general  divisions  first  announced, 

VI.  To  show  the  various  applications,  or  the  various  kinds,  of 
this  Faith. 

Under  this  head  I  would  more  distinctly  announce  five 
divisions  : 

1st.  Its  general  application  to  human  actions,  both 
worldly  and  religious. 

2d.  Its  more  specific  applications  to  worldly  matters,  and 
their  influence  on  the  character. 

3d.  Its  application  to  religious  objects;  or,  Religious 
Faith. 

*  The  strict  sense  of  this  texu  is  given  by  the  author,  in  the  Tenth  Discourse, 
■where  comp.  Bp.  Blomfield's  note.  We  have  prefixed  it  to  this  Discourse  as 
implying  the  doctrine  contained  in  it. 


DISCOURSES.  109 

4th.  Faith  in  God,  His  truth,  Providence ;  and 

5th.  Faith  in  Christ,  regenerating,  justifying  and  sanc- 
tifying. 

Our  subject,  in  this  discourse,  will  be  the  first  of  these 
divisions  ;  or, 

1st.  The  general  application  of  Faith  as  a  characteristic  to 
human  actions. 

And  here  the  proposition  may  be  laid  dovna,  that  Faith 
is  applicable  as  a  characteristic  to  all  things  that  all  men 
do,  both  as  citizens  of  the  world  and  subjects  of  the  Divine 
Government ;  or,  in  other  words,  all  human  actions,  both 
worldly  and  religious,  are  acts  of  Faith. 

We  will  consider  this  proposition  in  its  two  divisions  : — 
in  reference  to  man's  worldly  actions,  (by  which  I  mean 
here,  all  his  actions  which  have  reference  merely  to  this 
world),  and  to  his  religious  actions  (or  those  done  in  ref- 
erence to  the  will  of  God). 

First,  All  human  actions  done  in  reference  to  this  world  are  acts 
of  Faith.* 

The  truth  of  this  proposition  may  be  made  manifest  by 

*  At  this  point  thD  olijection  is  most  likely  to  be  urged,  that  faith  is  a  holy 
exercise,  and  is  peculiar  to  regenerate  persons.  But  the  reader  will  recollect  that 
in  this  discussion  the  term  "  faith  "'  is  used  in  its  generic  sense,  and  with  reference 
to  the  various  powers  of  the  soul  which  it  involves.  The  words  of  Paul,  "What- 
soever is  not  of  faith  is  sin,"  are  not  inconsi.stent  with  this  view;  for  in  the  con- 
text (Rom.  xiv.  22—23.)  the  term  "  faith"  is  manifestly  applied  to  one's  opinion 
of  an  act  in  itself  indifferent.  In  the  expression,  "  Hast  thou  faith  ?  have  it  to 
thyself  before  God  " — it  cannot  denote  an  exercise  intrinsically  holy,  but  simply 
in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  our  being. 

That  '•  faith  in  God  "  is  the  noblest  sort  of  faith,  and  that  he  who  has  it  is 
most  worthy  of  the  name  '■  believer," — is  maintained  by  our  author,  as  it  ac- 
cords with  the  whole  tenor  of  Scripture.  But  it  is  no  small  advantage  to  be  able 
to  say  to  the  sceptic,  that  he  has  some  sort  of  faith  in  spite  of  himself;  and  that 
in  discarding  the  "  faith "  of  the  Scriptures,  he  restricts  himself  to  dull  and 
earthly  prose,  and  scorns  a  sublime  and  heavenly  poetry,  and  narrows  down  his 
being  to  acts  of  insignificance,  while  he  might  sanctify  his  wasting  powers,  and 
"  work  the  work  of  God."— [Ed. 


110  DISCOURSES. 

a  sino-le  remark :  all  a  man's  actions  done  in  reference 
merely  to  this  world,  are  done  in  order  to  procure  for  him- 
self some  happiness,  which  it  is  always  possible,  however, 
they  will  not  procure.  If  it  is  in  the  nature  of  things  pos- 
sible that  a  certain  act  will  not  procure  that  happiness 
which  is  its  aim,  then  the  proposition  that  it  will  procure 
it,  is  only  a  "  probable  truth,"  whatever  may  be  the  force 
of  that  probability ;  and  to  act  upon  it  as  true,  is,  there- 
fore, an  act  of  faith.  And  who  shall  say  of  any  earthly 
action,  that  there  is  no  possibility  in  the  nature  of  things 
of  its  failing  to  bring  happiness  ?  Who  shall  say,  when 
the  cup  of  pleasure  is  pressed  to  the  very  lip,  that  it  can- 
not be  dashed  down  ere  it  is  tasted,  or  its  taste  prove  poi- 
son when  it  is  quaffed  ? 

But  let  us  be  more  specific.  All  earthly  acts  may  be 
divided  into  two  sorts :  those  which  have  reference  to  fu- 
ture results,  and  those  which  have  reference  to  what  may 
be  called  present  results.  In  actions  of  the  first  class,  it  is 
very  readily  seen  how  it  is  possible  that  the  result  should 
not  be  attained.  When  the  farmer  goes  out  into  the  field 
to  plough,  and  to  plant  his  seed,  does  he  imagine  that  it  is 
impossible  the  harvest  should  fail  ?  Is  it  any  other  than  a 
probable  truth,  that  by  care  and  industry  he  may  secure  his 
crop  %  When  he  acts,  therefore,  upon  this  probable  truth, 
it  is  an  act  of  faith :  not  religious  faith,  but  faith  in  the 
truth.  When  the  blacksmith  forges  a  plough,  or  the  car 
penter  builds  a  house  ;  when  the  cabinet-makar  makes  a 
bureau,  or  the  shoe-maker  a  pair  of  shoes,  or  the  tailor  a 
coat,  or  the  tinner  a  tea-kettle,  he  does  it  in  view  of  the 
supposed  truth  that  he  will  obtain  a  recompense.  But, 
however  strong  the  probability  may  be  that  he  will,  still 
this  is  only  a  probable  truth — the  contrary  is  clearly  possi- 


DISCOURSES.  Ill 

ble  ;  his  act,  therefore,  is  an  act  of  faith — it  is  acting  upon 
a  proposed  truth  in  which  the  mind  sees  some  probability. 

Again,  when  the  capitalist  invests  his  money  in  any  spe- 
cies of  property,  or  the  trader  purchases  to  sell  again,  he 
does  it  with  the  expectation  of  a  gain  which  is  by  no  means 
inevitable.  What  though  he  is  insured — his  insurance 
companies  can  fail,  and  he  with  them.  He  is  acting  upon 
probable  truth — he  is  exercising  faith. 

And  when  the  lawyer  makes  his  plea,  he  does  it  in 
faith  that  he  may  gain  the  cause  for  his  client ,  or,  at  least, 
gain  his  client's  money  for  himself — a  thing  not  altogether 
certain,  for  his  client  may  have  no  money  to  be  gained. 

When  a  man  steps  on  board  a  steamboat,  to  go  a  jour- 
ney, he  performs  an  act  of  faith — faith  that  the  mighty 
force  of  steam  which  is  pent  up  in  its  iron  heart,  and  which 
would  work  such  swift  destruction  if  suffered  to  break 
loose,  is  under  the  hand  of  one  able  to  control  and  skillful 
to  direct  it.  And  so  when  he  lies  down  at  night  to  sleep 
quietly  in  his  berth,  he  puts  faith  in  the  man  that  stands 
above  at  the  wheel — faith  that  through  the  long  hours  of 
darkness  he  will  stand  there  alone,  able  and  willing  to  guide 
the  boat  along  the  tortuous  channel  safely  and  steadily  to- 
ward its  port. 

And  so  the  sea-captain,  when  he  steps  on  board  his  ship 
and  gives  the  word  of  command,  and  the  broad  sheet  is 
flung  out  to  the  wind,  and  the  helm  is  braced  a-port,  per- 
forms an  act  of  faith.  The  proposition  that  by  care,  and 
skill  he  may  be  able  to  conduct  his  vessel  safely  to  her  dis- 
tant haven,  is  only  a  probable  truth.  The  contrary  is  pos- 
sible. He  is  not  miojhtier  than  He  who  "  holdeth  the 
winds  in  the  hollow  of  His  fist,"  neither   can  he  resist  His 


112  DISCOURSES. 

will.  Yet  the  suppoFition  that  he  can  go  safely  he  sees  to 
be  probable,  and  he  puts  faith  in  it  and  sets  forth.* 

And  so  the  physician,  when  he  stands  over  one  who  is 
prostrate  with  disease  and  seemingly  drawing  nigh  to 
death,  knows  very  well  that  it  is  possible  the  potion  he  is 
administering  will  not  cure.  But  he  sees  evidence,  also, 
that  it  may, — probable  evidence  of  some  degree  that  it 
will ;  and  however  feeble  his  confidence  may  be,  his  giving 
it,  is  an  act  of  faith  in  the  supposition  that  it  will. 

So  also  the  preacher,  when  he  prepares  a  sermon,  does 
it  on  the  supposition  that  he  will  be  able  to  stand  up  at  the 
appointed  time  and  preach,  and  that  there  will  be  men 
there  to  hear  him — both  of  which  are  truths  by  no  means 
inevitable.  His  doing  so,  then,  is  an  act  of  faith  in  those 
truths. 

And  there  is  still  another  truth  in  which  all  these  per- 
sons spoken  of  put  faith  in  all  these  actions,  and  in  which 
all  persons  put  faith  in  every  thing  they  do  which  respects 
the  future ;  and  that  is,  that  there  will  he  to  them  a  future, 
or  to  others  for  whom  they  labor.  Why  do  you  build  a 
house,  and  make  provision  against  to-morrow  ?  Is  it  be- 
cause it  is  impossihle  but  that  there  should  be  a  to-morrow 

*  "  Et  quoniam  ridere  nostram  fidem  consxiestis,  atque  ipFam  credulitatem 
facetiis  jocularibus  lancinare,  dicite,  o  festivi.  et  meraco  sapientia  tincti  et  sa- 
turi  potu,  estne  operis  in  Tita  negotjosum  aliquod  atque  actuosum  genus,  quod 
non  fide  praeeunte  suscipiant,  sumant,  atque  aggrediantur  actores?  Peregrina- 
mini,  navigatis :  non  domum  tcs  credentes  peractis  negotiationibus  remeaturos? 
Terram  ferro  scinditis,  atque  oppletis  seminum  varietate  :  non  credentes  fiugem 
percepturos  esse  ricibus  temporariis  ?  Conjugalia  copulatis  consortia :  non  futura 
esse  credentes  casia,  et  officiosi  foederis  in  maritos  ?  Liberorum  suscipitis  proiem : 
non  incolumen  credentes  fore,  et  per  gradus  aetatis  venturam  senectutis  ad 
metas?  JEgritudines  corporum  medicorum  committitis  manibus:  non  credentes 
morbos  posse  mitigata  asperitate  leniri?  Bella  cum  hostibus  geritis:  non  ricto- 
riam  vos  credentes  praeliorum  successionibus  relaturos?  Veneratnini  deos,  et 
colitis :  non  credentes  illos  esse,  et  propitias  aures  vestriji  supplicationibus  accom- 
modare  ?" — Arnobius.  Adv.  Gentes.  ii.  8. 


DISCOURSES.  113 

to  you  ?  or  because  it  is  probable  you  will  see  it  ?  Cer- 
tainly, you  act  upon  a  probability,  knowing  that  it  is  wisest 
for  you  to  do  so :  and  in  so  doing,  you  exercise  faith — you 
act  as  if  it  were  true  that  you  will  see  to-morrow. 

And  so  in  everything  which  you  do  which  has  reference 
to  an  hour  beyond  the  present,  you  are  acting  on  the  prob- 
able supposition  that  you  are  coming  to  that  hour  ;  and 
in  this  respect,  if  in  no  other,  every  such  act  is  an  act  of 
faith. 

But  again,  all  those  acts  of  men  which  have  reference 
to  the  present,  or  to  immediate  results,  are  in  some  re- 
spect acts  of  faith. 

Look  at  that  noble  bark  in  a  storm ;  now  rocking  in  the 
troughs  of  the  sea,  and  now  rising  upon  its  mountain 
swells,  and  shaking  the  spray  from  her  spattered  crest  like 
a  thing  of  life.  See  that  gallant  tar,  as  hand  over  hand  he 
ascends  amid  the  tracery  of  her  ropes  and  spars,  to  do 
some  daring  deed  for  her  safety.  Now  the  rocking  mast 
has  swung  him  far  out  over  the  boiling  billows,  into  which 
his  dangling  feet  are  almost  dipped,  and  there  is  nothing 
to  save  him  from  that  watery  burial  but  the  slender  rope 
to  which  his  hands  are  clinging.  How  does  he  know,  as 
he  hangs  in  that  fearful  position,  waiting  for  a  favorable 
moment  to  perform  his  task — how  does  he  know  that  that 
rope  to  which  he  clings  will  not  break  its  fastenings,  or  be 
snapt  in  sunder  ?  Is  such  a  thing  impossible  %  Is  it  any- 
thing but  a  probable  truth  that  it  will  continue  to  support 
him  %  And  shall  he,  then,  let  go?  No  ;  he  will  hold  on, 
and  with  no  landsman's  grasp.  He  puts  faith  in  the  rope 
— and  with  that  grasp  of  faith  he  is  saved. 

Go  down  with  me,  now,  into  the  cabin  of  that  ship. 
See  there  the  man  upon  whose  skill   she  depends  for  her 

6* 


114  DISCOURSES. 

safe  conduct  over  the  pathless  waters  and  amid  the  unseen 
dano-ers.  He  is  bending  over  a  table  that  is  fastened  to  the 
floor,  AVliat  is  that  which  is  spread  out  upon  it  ?  It  is  a 
chart,  pointing  out  the  hidden  rocks  and  all  the  dangers  of 
the  way.  Does  he  know  that  it  is  correct  in  every  partic- 
ular? Is  the  coniT2iVj  impossible ?  No;  but  he  has  good 
reason  to  regard  it  as  correct,  and  he  acts  accordingly — he 
puis  faith  in  his  chart.  And  so  in  those  numerical  tables  by 
which  he  calculates  the  position  and  course  of  his  vessel, 
containing  thousands  of  figures,  traverse  tables,  logarithms, 
sines,  co-sines,  tangents  and  secants  ;  it  is  probable  every 
one  of  those  figures  are  correct,  but  the  contrary  is  possi- 
ble ;  and  if  there  is  one  of  them  wrong,  that  one  wrong 
number  may  be  the  means  of  dashing  him  and  his  vessel 
upon  inevitable  destruction.  Yet  he  uses  his  tables  confi- 
dently ;  he  acts  as  if  they  vjere  true — it  is  an  act  of  faith. 

And  the  same  principle  prevails  in  every  department  and 
in  every  act  of  life.  When  the  mechanic  lifts  his  hammer 
to  drive  a  nail,  it  is  possible  that  the  nail  will  break  and 
the  blow  be  useless ;  but  he  smites  it  in  faith — faith  that  it 
will  endure  the  blow  and  sink  into  the  wood.  And  when 
the  seamstress  is  plying  the  polished  needle,  she  knows  at 
every  stitch  that  it  may  snap  in  her  fingers,  or  the  tenuous 
thread  may  break,  and  the  stitch  be  useless — but  it  is  prob- 
able they  will  not ;  and  she  acts  upon  it — and  every  stitch 
is  an  act  of  faith. 

And  when  you  ate  your  breakfast  this  morning,  you  did 
it  in  faith — faith  that  that  which  you  lifted  to  your  mouth 
was  food,  wholesome  food,  and  not  some  deceptive  prepa- 
ration or  poisonous  article.  And  you  cannot  go  to  your 
dinner  without  faith — faith  that  you  have  a  dinner  to  go 
to.     Nav,  vou  cannot  rise  from  the  seat  on  which  you  are 


DISCOURSES.  115 

sitting  without  faith.  How  do  you  know  that  that  curious 
chain  of  nerves  and  muscles  which  is  wont  to  communi- 
cate the  impulse  from  your  brain  and  move  your  limbs,  is 
now  in  perlect  order  and  ready  to  transmit  the  mandates 
of  your  will"?  The  contrary  is  possible.  Some  unseen 
power  may  have  severed  the  chain,  or  palsied  the  delicate 
nerve,  while  you  have  been  sitting  there  unconscious.  Such 
things  have  happened.  However  probable  it  may  be,  it  is 
still  only  a  probable,  and  not  a  necessary  or  inevitable 
truth,  that  the  nerve  and  muscle  will  obey  your  will.  If 
your  will,  therefore,  shall  still  act  as  if  it  were  true,  and 
put  forth  the  volition,  it  wilLbe  an  act  of  faith.  You  can- 
not rise  up  from  your  seat  without  faith.* 

Enough  has  now  been  said  to  show  that  all  human  ac- 
tions, relating  to  this  world,  depend,  in  some  respect,  upon 
faith  for  their  exercise  ;  and  now  I  observe  : 

Secondly,  Much  more  are  all  human  actions,  of  a  religious 
character,  acts  of  faith.  This  will  easily  appear,  independ- 
ently of  what  has  now  been  said.  The  actions  of  men  are 
religious  only  so  far  as  they  are  done  in  reference  to  un- 
seen, unworldly  things,  or,  more  particularly,  the  will 
of  God.  It  is  alone  their  being  done  in  reference  to  things 
unseen,  or  the  Divine  will,  which  constitutes  actions  re- 
ligious.    But  to  act  with  such  a  reference  is  to  act  on  the 

*  It  has  been  affirmed,  in  the  progress  of  this  discussion,  that  all  the  acts  of 
men  are,  in  some  respects,  acts  of  faith.  And  they  unquestionably  are  so.  To 
act  on  a  proposition  which  one  does  not  intellectually  believe,  is  not,  indeed,  to 
exercise  faith  in  the  proposition  ;  but  there  must  be  some  other,  at  the  same 
time,  which  is  believed  and  acted  on,  so  that  there  is  still  faith.  But  if  a  man 
act  on  a  proposition  to  which  his  understanding  does  not  assent,  as  he  may  do, 
whether  for  some  other  rea  on,  or  with  the  idea  that  he  -will  try  it,  either  to 
show  its  falsity  or  as  a  possible  resource,  such  a  case  may  be  an  exception  to 
eorae  of  the  language  of  the  discussion,  which  I  have  not  thei-ein  taken  pains  to 
guard  against     but  it  is  B'Jll  no  exception  to  the  principles  advanced. 


4 

11(3  DISCOURSES. 

supposition  that  there  is  a  God  who  has  a  will — a  truth 
which,  though  no  sane  man,  except  he  is  utterly  perverse 
and  depraved,  will  deny  it,  is  yet  supported  only  by  that 
kind  of  evidence  which  is  called  probable.  The  proposi- 
tion that  there  is  a  God,  belongs  to  the  same  class  of  truths 
with  the  proposition  that  there  was  such  a  man  as  George 
Washington,  or,  that  there  is  such  a  place  as  London,  or, 
that  the  sun  will  rise  to-morrow,  viz. :  probable  truths. 
The  contrary  of  these  propositions  is  admitted  by  the  hu- 
man mind  to  be  in  itself  possible,  though  no  man  doubts 
their  truth.  Just  so  the  proposition  that  there  is  a  God 
cannot,  in  reality,  be  doubted  by  an  enlightened  and  can- 
did mind ;  yet  its  opposite  is  to  human  understanding  pos- 
sible, and  it  is,  therefore,  a  "  probable  truth."  But,  as 
every  religious  act  is  such  only  as  it  is  based  upon  it  as 
true,  it  follows  that  every  religious  act  is  an  act  of  Jaith. 

For  example :  Christian  repentance  is  an  act  of  faith, 
since  it  is  exercised  upon  the  supposition  that  there  is  a  God, 
who  has  been  offended,  but  who  is  ready  to  forgive  ;  all  of 
which  are  probablo  truths,  though  they  are  no  less  certain 
than  the  probable  truth  that  George  Washington  was  first 
President  of  the  United  States. 

So  prayer,  and  every  act  of  obedience  to  God,  is  an  act 
of  faith ;  proceeding  on  the  supposition  that  there  is  a  God. 
So  all  the  Christian  Graces,  as  they  are  termed,  are  exer- 
cises of  faith — love  to  God,  gratitude  to  God,  submission  to 
God,  humility  and  meekness  before  God — all  proceeding 
on  the  supposition  that  there  is  a  God,  a  truth  which  is  an 
object  of  faith  and  not  of  intuition.* 

*  Some  tiuths  which  call  for  faith  are  not  such  as  call  for  any  external  or  visi- 
ble act,  but  only  some  silent  exercise  of  will,  which  may  control  the  feel- 
ings of  the  heart.  When  a  man  who  has  been  accu.stomed  to  exerci.se  faith  in 
th«  doctrine  of  God's  gracious  providence  over  Hi?  children,  is  placed  in  a  situa- 


DISCOURSES.  117 

"  Take  almost  any  Christian  grace,"  says  one  who  has 
written  extensively  upon  faith,  "  such  as  the  spirit  of  sub 
mission,  of  gratitude,  or  of  prayer,  and  it  will  be  found  that 
they  sustain  intimate  relations  with  other  states  of  the  mind, 
particularly  with  faith;  and  that  "in  reality  they  cannot 
posssibly  exist  without  faith." 

No,  surely  !  how  can  a  man  pray  to  God  without  be- 
lieving that  there  is  a  God  ?  And  yet  this  writer  did  not 
perceive  that  prayer  is  an  act  of  faith.  His  idea  is  true, 
tLough  the  form  of  it  is  unphilosophical.  A  further  dis- 
cussion of  the  nature  and  character  of  religious  faith  is  de- 
manded, but  must  for  the  present  be  deferred. 

From  what  has  now  been  said,  how^evei-,  may  be  seen 
the  truth  of  the  proposition  stated  in  the  commencement 
of  our  present  discussion,  that  all  human  actions,  loth 
worldly  and  religious,  are  acts  of  faith,  ^j  this  it  is  not  as- 
serted that  faith  is  the  only  characteristic  of  human  actions, 
but  simply  that  it  is  a  universal  characteristic  of  them. 
They  may  all  have  many  other  qualitias,  but  this  one 
quality  they  always  have.  In  other  respects  they  may  be 
of  various  characters  and  descriptions;  but  m  this  one  re- 
spect, that  they  are  all  based  in  part,  immediately  or  re- 


tion  of  imminent  danger  or  sore  trial,  he  may  on  the  one  hand  listen  to  the  sug- 
gestions of  fear  or  despondency,  and  throw  his  soul  into  violent  commotion  and 
distress,  or  he  may  on  the  other  hand,  by  a  strong  exercise  of  will,  turn  off  his 
thoughts  from  the  perils  and  vexations  which  surround  him.  and  fix  his  attention 
firmly  on  the  great  truth  which  is  so  consoling  to  the  heart,  with  the  fixed  re- 
solve that  he  will  hear  only  its  comforting  dictates,  and  rejoice  in  the  hope 
which  it  gives. 

Thus  may  he  control  his  feelings,  and  while  he  looks  with  open  eye  at  the 
perils  and  calamities  at  which  other  hearts  are  quaking  around  him,  he  may  be 
calm.  And  this  internal  exercise  of  mind,  by  which  its  agitation  is  controlled, 
and  a  feeling  of  calm  confidence  is  produced  in  an  overruling  and  directing  pow- 
er of  goodness,  po3se.-«es  all  the  attributes  of  faith,  as  truly  as  any  external  action. 


118  DISCOURSES. 

motelvj  upon  some  probable  truth,  and  not  wholly,  at  least, 
upon  necessary  truth,  they  are  all  acts  of  faith. 

From  the  subject  of  the  present  discussion  I  have  two 
inferences. 

First.  There  is  nothing  unreasonable  in  the  fact  that  the  Bi- 
ble demands  of  men  Jaith.  In  doing  so  it  does  no  more  than 
the  world  demands  continually  of  those  who  seek  its  pleas- 
ures— no  more  than  every  hour's  necessities  demand  of 
every  man  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  life.  If  it  is 
true  that  the  Christian  is  called  to  "  walk  by  faith  and  not 
by  sight,"  it  is  also  true  that  every  man  walks  every  step 
of  his  earthly  way  by  faith,  though  it  may  be  a  faith  far 
inferior  in  its  objects,  its  character,  and  its  influence.  And 
a  Hume,  who  sneered  at  the  belief  in  Jesus  for  his  faith, 
was  himself  as  much  a  believer  as  the  Christian,  though  in 
a  different  creed — and  he  lived  all  his  life  by  faith,  in  every 
act  of  it,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  as  much  as  the 
Christian — only  his  was  faith  in  different  things ;  and 
whether  was  nobler,  his  faith  or  the  Christian's,  we  may  by- 
and-by  see.  And  it  is  so  with  all  unbelievers,  or  infidels, 
as  they  are  called — if  they  refuse  to  believe  in  "  things 
heavenly  and  Divine,"  they  do  yet  believe,  though  it  be 
in  things  "  earthly,  sensual,  devilish" — nay,  they  must  be- 
lieve  they  must  live  all  their  lives  by  faith,  of  some  sort 

or  other.  The  fact  then,  that  the  Bible  demands  faith,  is 
no  objection  against  it.  And  if  it  can  be  shown,  as  it  cer- 
tainly can,  that  the  faith  which  it  demands  is  a  pure  and 
\ol.j  one,  then  is  the  mouth  of  the  unbeliever  shut  up,  and 
his  sneer  is  turned  with  redoubled  force  against  himself. 

Secondly.  We  see  that  much  of  the  language  of  Chris- 
tian writers  about  faith  is  without  sense  or  propriety. 
Much  is  said,  in  laudatory  terms,  about  faith  in  the  ab- 


I 


DISCOURSES.  119 

stract,  as  though  it  were  in  itself  a  peculiar  and  rare  prin- 
ciple, and  worthy  of  the  highest  commendation.  Not  see- 
ing that  it  is  a  principle  of  universal  prevalence,  and  that 
its  excellence  must  be  measured  by  its  objects,  many  have 
spoken  of  the  principle  itself  as  one  of  a  mysterious  and 
superior  merit.  But  all  talk  about  the  excellence  of  faith 
is  folly,  unless  you  define,  or  unless  it  be  understood  what 
the  truth  is,  which  it  is  so  excellent  to  believe,  or  act 
upon. 

The  Scriptures,  indeed,  say  much  about  the  excellence  of 
faith,  without  always  expressly  defining  it ;  but  from  the 
very  nature  of  their  subject  it  is  understood  to  be  religious 
faith  of  which  they  are  speaking — faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  or 
in  those  realities  of  the  unseen  world  which  He  has  reveal- 
ed. And  all  who  speak  in  praise  of  faith  should  be  care- 
ful to  define  what  kind  of  faith  they  mean,  unless  their 
subject  or  circumstances  define  it  sufficiently  ;  or  at  least, 
they  should  not  speak  as  though  faith  in  itself,  or  faith  of 
every  kind,  were  a  thing  so  holy  and  exalted.  The  view 
taken  in  this  decision  will  not  be  found  indeed  to  detract 
from  the  excellence  of  religious  faith,  but  the  contrary,  as 
we  may  see  hereafter.  It  shows,  however,  the  true  ground 
of  the  excellence — that  it  consists  not  in  the  principle  itself 
but  in  its  object — not  in  its  being  faith,  but  in  its  beino- 
faith  in  "  things  heavenly  and  Divine."  It  takes  away  all 
reproach  against  a  man  for  believing,  and  shows  us  that 
luhat  he  believes  is  the  test  by  which  to  judge  him.  It  shows 
us  that  while  "devils"  may  "believe"  and  be  devils  still,  it 
is  he  that  believeth  in  Jesus  that  "  worketh  the  works  of 
God."  And  it  tells  you,  reader,  not  to  exult  because  you 
have  faith,  but  to  inquire,  what  is  your  faith  ? 


DISCOURSE     YI. 


Faith — In  the  Affairs  of  this  World. 

Hebretts  XI.  32 — 34  :  "  And  what  shall  I  more  say  ?  for  the 
time  would  fail  me  to  tell  of  Gedeon,  and  of  Barak,  and 
of  Samson,  and  of  Jephthae,  of  David  also,  and  Samuel, 
and  of  the  Prophets  ;  who  through  faith  subdued  king- 
doms, wrought  righteousness,  obtained  promises,  stopped 
the  mouths  of  lion's,  quenched  the  violence  of  fire ,  escaped 
the  edge  of  the  sword,  out  of  weakness  were  made  strong, 
waxed  valiant  in  fght,  turned  to  flight  the  armies  of  the 
aliensJ'^ 

In  discussing  the  subject  of  faith,  we  have  seen  that  it 
is  the  heart's  purpose  of  acting  upon  a  proposed  truth  in 
which  the  mind  sees  some  probability,  and  of  which,  there- 
fore, it  feels  some  assurance.  We  have  seen,  also,  that  it 
is  a  characteristic  of  all  human  actions,  both  worldly  and 
religious ;  in  other  words,  that  all  the  actions  of  all 
men  are,  in  some  respects,  acts  of  faith,  since  they  are  all 
based,  directly  or  remotelj'-,  upon  some  probable  truth.  It 
remains  to  discuss  more  particularly  these  exhibitions  of 
faith,  separating  them  into  their  different  classes,  and  point- 
ing out  severally  their  peculiar  character  and  influence 
upon  the  soul.  We  now  propose  to  consider,  under  the 
sixth  general  division  of  our  subject, 

2d.  The  application  of  faith  by  mankind  to  the  things  of  this 
world,  as  to  its  inftuence  on  the  human  character  and  condition. 

The  various  objects  which  the  world  presents  to  human 


DISCOURSES.  121 

faith,  may  be  divided  into  two  kinds  :  those  which  are 
proper  objects  for  its  exercise,  and  those  which,  all  things 
considered,  are  not  proper. 

First.  The  application  of  faith  to  proper  worldly  objects. 

And  I  remark  here,  all  those  plans  or  propositions  which 
have  for  their  aim  the  increase  of  the  eartlily  means  of 
human  happiness,  or  the  improvement  or  comfort  of  one's 
own  condition,  and  which  do  not  prevent  the  rendering  to 
others  of  aught  that  is  their  due,  are  proper  objects  of  man's 
faith  ;  provided,  indeed,  their  practicability  or  truth  is  suf- 
ficiently probable. 

The  exercise  of  faith  in  such  objects,  and  the  w^ant  of 
it,  is  what  makes  the  difference  between  men  of  enterprise, 
progress  and  perseverance,  and  men  of  slack  character, 
idle,  irresolute  habits,  and  stationary  or  retrograde  con- 
dition. 

"  He  that  observeth  the  wind  shall  not  sow,"  says  the 
writer  of  Ecclesiastes,  "  and  he  that  regardeth  the  clouds 
shall  not  reap."  It  is  only  a  probable  truth  that  the  hus- 
bandman shall  gather  the  product  of  his  toil,  yet  if  he  will 
not  put  faith  in  it,  he  becomes  by  his  refusal  a  slack  and 
idle  man,  and  his  children  shall  go  hungry  and  be  clothed 
in  rags.  And  just  so,  whatever  may  be  a  man's  occupa- 
tion in  life,  if  he  will  not  put  faith  in  the  prospects  of  suc- 
cess which  lie  before  him,  or  the  possibilities  of  obtaining 
a  reward  for  his  labor — in  other  words,  if  he  will  not  act 
upon  the  supposition  that  he  may  reap  if  he  will  sow,  a 
proposition  which  he  sees  to  be  a  probable  truth,  he  be- 
comes by  his  refusal  an  idle,  irresolute  being,  whose  charac- 
ter and  condition  will  be  continually  receding  from  worse 
to  worse. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  man  who  ploughs  and  sows  with 


122  DISCOURSES. 

diligence,  acting  on  the  supposition  that  he  may  reap  ;  or 
the  man  of  business,  who  acts  on  a  similar  probable  truth, 
and  builds  houses  and  stores,  and  buys  merchandise  and 
produce,  and  erects  mills,  and  factories,  and  workshops, 
and  sends  to  sea  his  ships,  freighted  with  costly  cargoes, 
and  plans  rail-roads,  and  takes  and  procures  subscriptions 
to  the  stock,  and  opens  canals,  and  erects  telegraphic  posts 
and  wires,  and  invents  and  executes  improvements  in  do- 
mestic and  farming  utensils,  stoves,  washers,  ploughs  and 
reapers,  and  in  tools  and  steam-engines,  and  in  house- 
building, and  barns,  and  fences  ; — such  a  man  is  a  man  of 
enterprise,  and  a  man  of  progress.  And  such  is  the  dif- 
ference which /azV/i,  in  the  proper  objects  of  worldly  activ- 
ity, and  the  want  of  faith,  makes  between  one  man  and 
another. 

Sometimes,  indeed,  the  truth  in  which  the  idle  man  re- 
fuses to  put  faith  may  not  be  the  precise  one  which 
has  been  mentioned  ;  but  the  principle  is  the  same.  The 
truth  that  industry,  and  the  competence  which  it  would 
secure,  would  make  him  a  happier  man,  may  be  the  truth 
in  which  he  refuses  to  put  faith  ;  and  so  he  hangs  about 
from  door  to  door,  and  lounges  from  store  to  shop,  a  lazy, 
lank,  and  dirty  drone,  with  his  hands  slouched  down  into 
his  eiLpty  pockets,  and  his  hat  slouched  over  his  empty 
head,  a  very  picture  of  miserable  imbecility  ; — and  if  he 
fall  not  into  the  devouring  jaws  of  him  who  Ueth  in  wait 
with  his  liquid  fire  to  catch  men,  it  is  well. 

But  let  him  put  faith  in  that  truth  which  he  now  rejects, 
and  you  s^hall  see  him  a  cheerful  and  contented  man,  and 
his  late  neglected  family  sitting  around  him  in  comfort, 
with  gladness  in  every  eye. 

And  in  like  manner,  every  man  who  seeks  to  maintain 


I 


DISCOURSES.  123 

himself  in  comfort,  or  to  better  his  condition,  acts  and 
must  act  in  faith  in  the  proper  objects  of  human  activity. 
The  hardy  adventurer  of  the  land  of  gold ;  the  man  who 
left  the  home  of  his  sires  among  the  hills  of  New-England, 
or  on  the  Atlantic  slope,  to  build  his  cabin  on  these  prairies 
of  the  West ;  the  emigrant  who  fled  from  the  old  world, 
where  men  "  grind  the  faces  of  the  poor,"  and  trample 
upon  the  weak,  to  seek  on  these  occidental  shores  a  home 
and  bread,  with  liberty  of  life  and  conscience ;  all  these, 
and  all  like  these,  were  men  of  faith. 

So  too,  it  has  been  by  faith  that  all  those  great  deeds 
have  been  wrought  in  all  times  by  which  their  actors  en- 
nobled themselves,  and  blessed  mankind.  By  faith,  the 
philosophic  Franklin  lifted  his  kite  into  the  storm,  and 
brought  the  lightning  from  the  cloud,  and  so  taught  men 
to  defend  their  lives  and  property  from  the  destructive  bolt. 

By  faith,  a  Fulton  launched  upon  the  waters,  amid  the 
sneers  of  unbelieving  spectators,  that  grand  experiment 
which  was  to  lay  open  these  broad,  rich  lands  to  the  emi- 
grant, make  our  rivers  highways  of  commerce,  bring  the 
choice  productions  of  all  climes  to  our  feet ;  nay,  join  all 
lands  in  a  brotherhood  of  nations,  and  bless  them  with  un- 
numbered gifts. 

By  faith,  Milton,  when  he  stood  a  blind  old  man  upon 
the  verge  of  time,  conceived  in  his  mighty  heart  the  thought 
of  somewhat  that  his  countrymen  would  "  not  willingly 
let  die,"  and  sung  that  lofty  song  which  shall  echo  in  every 
land  to  stir  ihe  soul  with  sublime  emotions,  and  "  vindi- 
cate the  ways  of  God  to  man." 

By  faith,  Cromwell,  when  he  told  Hampden  that  the 
Parliament  needed  better  soldiers  than  old  broken  down 
tapsters  and  serving  men — ^it  needed  men  who  feared  God» 


124  DISCOURSES. 

felt  the  power  of  conscience,  and  hated  the  devil — by  faith 
he  replied  to  the  inquiry  whether  he  could  find  and  train 
such  men,  that  he  verily  "  tJiought  he  could  do  smnewhat^"* 
and  went  forth  to  tiy ;  and  England  felt  the  tread  of  his 
footsteps ;  and  the  world  feels  it  still ! 

By  faith,  Columbus,  amid  the  scorn  of  mariners,  mer- 
chants, wise  men  and  princes,  and  with  a  sword  hanging 
over  his  head,  launched  forth  undauntingly  upon  the  wa- 
ters of  the  untracked  and  seemingly  boundless  ocean,  to 
seek  a  new  world  for  the  adventurous  tread  of  men,  and 
lay  open  a  refuge  for  the  oppressed  and  needy  of  all  lands. 

By  faith  he  began  the  perilous  voyage,  and  by  faith  he 
prosecuted  it ;  and  w^hen  the  hearts  of  the  mariners  failed 
them  for  fear,  and  in  unbelieving  despondency  they  de- 
manded to  be  carried  back  to  their  far-forsaken  homes,  and 
even  conspired  to  cast  him  into  the  sea,  by  faith  he  stood 
among  them  all  undaunted  and  unyielding,  bidding  them 
go  forward  still,  till  the  New  World  was  found ! 

By  faith,  in  after  time,  when  a  new  people  had  sprang 
up  in  this  New  World,  those  brave  men,  in  national  coun- 
cil assembled,  on  that  memorable  Fourth  of  July,  pledged 
*' their  lives,  their  fortunes,  and  their  sacred  honor"  to  the 
maintenance  of  the  Declaration  they  had  made ;  and  by 
faith  our  generals  led,  and  our  armies  fought,  till  America 
was  redeemed,  the  refuge  for  the  poor,  and  the  banner-land 
of  freedom  to  all  nations. 

All  these  men,  we  say,  acted  in  faith ;  in  faith  that  the 
objects  which  they  sought  could  he  attained  by  resolute 
hearts  and  well-directed  efforts. 

I  repeat,  then,  it  is  faith  in  the  proper  objects  of  human 
activity  that  produces  all  the  enterprise  and  industry  of 
men,  begets  all  the  noble  deeds  of  great  souls,  causes  all 


DISCOURSES.  125 

the  improvements  in  man's  earthly  means  of  happiness, 
and  is  every  year  adding  blessing  to  blessing  and  changing 
the  whole  face  of  our  world.* 

Second.  But  there  is  another  kind  of  worldly  faith  of 
which  I  have  spoken,  and  to  this  I  must  now  advert.  This 
has  already  been  characterized  as  faith  in  improper  objects. 
Such  objects  are  those  which  tend  to  degrade  or  corrupt 
the  man  who  puts  faith  in  them,  or  lead  him  to  wrong  his 
fellow. 

The  creed  of  the  avaricious  man,  comes  under  this  denomi- 
nation. "  Wealth  is  the  great  good,"  is  the  proposition  to 
which  he  has  given  his  faith:  "the  more  money,  the  more 
pleasure."  And  so,  he  refuses  every  avoidable  outlay ;  he 
drives  hard  bargains,  not  only  with  those  who  have  means, 
but  also  with  the  poor — yea,  even  with  the  widow  and  the 
fatherless ;  he  hires  at  the  very  lowest  wages,  and  if  pos- 
sible pays  the  poor  lad  when  done  in  worthless  trash  ;  he 
buys  property  at  hidf  its  value,  because  some  unfortunate 
man  is  forced  to  sell ;  or  gets  it  into  his  possession  by  dis- 
honorable means  ;  he  takes  advantage  of  some  station  of 
trust  in  which  he  is  placed  to  overreach  his  neighbor  or 
the  public,  and  yet  keep  strictly  within  the  letter  of  the 
law ;  he  cheats  his  neighbor  in  selling  him  property  or  goods, 
though  very  careful,  perhaps,  to  cheat  him  without  telling 
any  lies,  lest  he  be  confronted  with  his  falsehood ;  he  shuts 
his  heart  close  against  the  calls  of  benevolence,  and  will 
not  own  that  God's  poor  have  any  right  to  God's  property 
in  his  hands ;   nay,  though  he  has  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  a 

*  "  Faith  is  the  basis  of  all  great,  active  enterprises.  If  a  man  cannot  think 
well,  nor  write  well,  ^vithout  faith;  so  in  all  difficult  enterprises,  which  imply 
physical  as  well  as  mental  efifort,  he  cannot  act  well,."  ITpAam's  "Life  of  Faith," 
Part  i.  ch.  ii.  The  Sermon  of  Abp.  Leighton,  on  "  The  BeliCTer  a  Hero,"  wiU  sug- 
gest the  same  thought.     [£o. 


126  DISCOURSES. 

free,  peaceful,  and  prosperous  country,  enabling  him  to  ac- 
cumulate his  wealth  and  to  enjoy  it  in  safety, — a  benefit 
procured  for  him  by  the  toil  of  others — he  will  make  no 
return;  even  his  country,  the  public  interest,  appeals  to 
him  in  vain  ;  with  both  hands  fast  upon  his  treasures  he 
creeps  on  to  old  age,  every  nobler  impulse  of  his  nature, 
day  by  day  drying  up,  and  his  moral  stature  shrinking  into 
a  more  miserable  and  hideous  decrepitude,  as  he  approaches 
nearer  to  the  time,  when,  stript  and  naked,  he  shall  be  hur- 
ried before  his  Judge.  !Such  is  the  influence  of  the  faith 
of  the  avaricious  man — a  faith  in  the  proposition  that  riches 
are  his  greatest  good. 

Another  wretched  faith  is  that  of  the  sensualist.  The 
idea  upon  which  he  acts  is,  that  his  highest  happiness  is  to 
be  found  in  securing  the  greatest  amount  of  sensual  grati- 
fication. And  so,  with  such  a  faith,  he  quenches  all  the 
higher  aspirations  of  his  being, — blots  out  the  finger-prints 
of  Deity  upon  his  soul, — assimilates  himself  to  the  brute 
creation,  and  makes  himself  viler  than  they,^lays  his  pol- 
luting and  destroying  touch  upon  the  purity  and  peace  of 
families, — nourishes  in  his  breast  and  breathes  around  him 
odors  of  moral  pestilence  and  death, — forgets  God  and  the 
future,  and  riots  in  the  present,  and  is  gay  in  the  midst  of 
the  ruin  that  he  is,  and  that  he  makes, — and  "  dieth  as  the 
fool  dieth."  Such  is  the  fruit  of  the  sensualist's  faith  ;  the 
man  who  mocks  at  the  faith  of  the  Christian. 

Another  wicked  faith  is  that  of  the  soldier,  the  man  of 
blood,  who  seeks  what  he  calls  gloi^,  on  the  field  of  battle. 
His  creed  is,  that  it  is  better  to  hate  his  enemies,  and 
butcher  them  by  thousands,  and  prove  himself  more  of  a 
tiger  than  they,  and  so  gain  an  illustrious  name  among 
men,  than  to  endeavor  to  overcome  evil  with  good,  and 


DISCOURSES.  127 

live  unhonored  in  the  world ;  and  so  he  rushes  into  the 
conflict,  shoots  and  stabs  with  frantic  fury,  and  comes  off 
covered  with  gory  glory  ! 

Another  vile  faith  is  that  of  the  unprincipled  politician, 
who  thinks  that  the  honor  and  emoluments  of  office  are 
better  than  a  useful  independence,  and  a  virtuous  self-re- 
spect ;  and  so  he  barters  his  manhood  for  votes  and  his 
integrity  for  office,  and  lifts  his  rottenness  above  our  heads 
to  pollute  the  air  we  breathe. 

Another  dreadful  faith  is  that  of  the  slave-trader.  He 
thinks  it  probable  that  if  he  will  man  his  ship,  and  set  forth 
to  a  foreign  shore,  he  may  there  be  able  to  seize  some  of 
his  unfortunate  fellow  beings,  transport  them  to  his  native 
land,  and  sell  them  for  beasts  of  burden  with  great  gain. 
Upon  this  proposition,  then,  he  acts.  He  sets  out  on  his 
dreadful  errand ;  he  makes  the  wretched  Africans  his  prey^ 
he  crowds  them  into  the  hold  of  his  ship,  he  carries  them 
over  the  burning  sea,  and  sells  them  to  our  countrymen, 
who  are  willing  to  buy !  Oh  !  he  believes  there  is  no  God, 
or  if  there  is  a  God  he  cannot  hate  iniquity,  and  there  is 
no  hell ! 

Such  are  the  fruits,  such  is  the  influence  upon  human 
character,  of  an  unrighteous  worldly  faith.  And  many 
are  the  wicked  works  it  has  wrought,  of  which  we  might 
tell.  It  was  by  such  a  faith  that  our  rulers,  lately,  made 
cruel  war  upon  an  unhappy  people,  thinking  to  gain  their 
land.  It  is  in  such  a  faith  that  some  of  our  Southern  states- 
men have  threatened  to  dissolve  the  Union, — believing  they 
could  frighten  the  haters  of  iniquity  into  silence.  It  was 
in  such  a  faith  that  Arnold  betrayed  his  country, — faith  in 
British  gold.  It  was  in  such  a  faith  that  England  once 
sent  her  armies  to  murder  our  countrymen,  and  ravage  our 
towns,  thinking  she  could  reduce  us  under  her  yoke. 


1-28  DISCOURSES. 

It  is  by  such  a  faith  that  Hungary  is  fallen,  and  Venice 
is  crushed,  and  Italy  once  more  enslaved  ;  the  failh  of 
tyrants  in  their  soldiers  and  cannon.  It  has  been  by  such 
a  faith  that  tyrants  all  over  the  world  have  crushed  and 
torn  their  unhappy  subjects — faith  in  the  blessings  of  pow- 
er and  plunder.  It  was  in  sueh  a  faith  that  Herod  de- 
stroyed the  babes  of  Bethlehem,  thinking  to  murder  Christ. 
It  was  in  such  a  faith  that  Judas  betrayed  his  Master ; 
hoping  for  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver. 

All  these,  we  say,  and  all  the  crimes  with  w^hich  earth 
has  ever  been  stained,  have  been  the  fruits  of  an  unright- 
eous faith.  It  is  faith  in  the  improper  objects  of  human  de- 
sire, that  has  produced  all  the  debasement  and  the  guilt  of 
the  human  character ;  that  has  begotten  all  the  vile  and 
cruel  deeds  of  degenerate  souls ;  that  has  caused  all  the 
w^retchedness  that  man  has  ever  inflicted  upon  man  ;  and 
that  is  every  year  adding  curse  to  curse,  and  striving  to 
pollute  the  whole  face  of  our  sinful  world.* 

Thus  have  we  seen,  the  influence  of  a  righteous  and  un- 
righteous worldly  faith,  upon  the  character  and  condition 
of  men.  We  have  seen  that  as  their  faith  is,  so  are  they : 
industrious,  enterprising,  progressive,  and  increasing  in 
the  means  of  enjoyment ;  or,  idle,  vicious,  full  of  shames 
and  crimes,  polluted  in  heart,  and  debased  in  mind,  gath- 
ering treasures  of  wrath  for  the  day  when  conscience  shall 
assert  its  power. 


*  "  The  undertakings  of  Alexander,  of  Hannibal,  of  Caesar,  did  not  signify 
valor  like  to  this;  their  achievements  were  but  toys  in  comparison  to  these; 
those  famous  gallants  would  have  found  it  infinitely  harder  to  conquer  the  world 
in  this  way;  to  have  subdued  their  lusts,  and  mastered  their  passions,  would 
have  proved  far  more  difficult  than  to  get  advantage  in  scuffles  with  armed  men." 
Dr.  Barrow,  on  the  Creed. — Sermon  I.  on  Faith. 


DISCOURSES.  129 

I  remark,  finally,  if  guilty  men  would  soberly  look  at 
the  faith  with  which  they  are  living,  it  would  seem  enough 
to  turn  them  to  the  paths  of  righteousness.  Especially 
would  this  seem  true  of  the  man,  whether  professing  Christ 
or  not  professing,  whose  understanding  assents  to  the  truth 
of  the  Gospel,  but  who  lives,  notwithstanding,  a  worldly 
life.  It  is  better  to  be  a  stranger  to  the  love  of  Christ  (is 
the  faith  of  such  a  man),  it  is  better  to  have  no  treasure 
in  Heaven,  it  is  better  to  love  immoderately  this  world 
where  I  cannot  stay,  it  is  better  to  be  an  enemy  of  God  and 
righteousness,  it  is  better  to  have  my  own  conscience  con- 
demn me,  and  none  justify  me  when  I  am  judged ! 

Such  is  your  faith,  reader,  if  you  are  living  in  sin,  yet 
owning  that  the  word  of  Christ  is  true. 


DISCOURSE    YII. 


Religious  Faith. 

2  Corinthians,  iv.  18  :  "  While  we  look  not  at  the  things  which 
are  seen,  but  at  the  things  which  are  not  seen  :  for  the  things 
which  are  seen  are  temporal,  hut  the  things  which  are  not 
seen  are  eternal y 

We  have  seen,  in  the  discussion  of  our  subject,  that 
faith  is  a  characteristic  of  all  human  actions ;  and  we  have 
briefly  glanced  at  the  influence  of  a  right  and  of  a  wrong 
worldly  faith  upon  the  human  character  and  condition. 
We  are  now,  therefore,  prepared  to  see  that  a  right  reli- 
gious faith  may  be  a  thing,  possibly,  not  unreasonable,  and 
in  its  influence  upon  the  character  of  man  not  altogether 
without  value.  To  examine  this  subject  is  our  present  ob- 
ject :  that  is — 

3d.  To  show  the  nature^  the  mm^al  character,  and  the  injluence 
of  religious  faith. 

Religious  faith,  I  will  define  to  be,  faith  in  unseen,  un- 
worldly things  :  or,  expanding  one  of  these  terms,  it  is 
ACTING — with  more  or  less  of  the  feeling  of  assurance — upon 
the  reality  of  unseen,  unworldly  things. 

It  follows,  from  this  definition,  that  there  may  be  various 
kinds  or  species  of  religious  faith,  some  of  which  may  be 
wrong  and  injurious,  and  others,  perhaps,  right  and  good. 

The  faith  of  the  blinded  pagan  in  his  idol,  is  a  religious 
faith.     It  may  be  an   exercise  of  heart,  belonging  to  a 


DISCOURSES.  131 

a  false  religion  ;  yet  it  pertains  to  a  religion,  and  is,  there- 
fore, a  religious  exercise.  It  is  faith  in  an  unseen  spiritual 
power,  residing  in  that  dumb  idol,  that  block  of  wood  or 
stone. 

It  may  be  a  faith  which  consists  with,  or  even  lies  in, 
acts  of  selfishness,  cruelty,  and  sensuality  ;  and  so  it  often 
is.  Such  a  faith  is  an  impure  and  guilty  religious  faith, 
corrupting  and  debasing  the  soul  which  cherishes  it,  sink- 
ing its  exalted  powers,  and  spreading  around  it  an  aroma 
of  death.  The  wretched  idolater  adheres,  with  worship 
and  obedience,  to  that  pretended  God  who  permits — nay, 
who  commands  him  to  riot  in  lust  and  rage  in  cruelty,  and 
live  with  his  right  hand  full  of  lies  and  all  iniquity.  So  it 
was  with  the  sensual  Greek,  and  the  cruel  Roman  :  offer- 
ing worship  to  Venus,  to  Bacchus,  and  to  Mars ;  and  so  it 
is  now  with  millions  of  deluded  pagans,  bowing  before  the 
shrines  of  vice  and  cruelty,  and  filling  themselves  with  every 
wrong. 

Such  a  religious  faith  is  but  the  effort  to  ob' ain  the  pro- 
tection, aid,  and  favor  of  wicked  supernatural  beings,  in 
those  dreadful  forms  of  sin  which  they  would  otherwise 
lack  opportunity,  or  would  perhaps  otherwise  fear,  to  com- 
mit. It  is  a  faith  as  vile  and  as  horrible  as  are  the  acts  to 
which  it  prompts,  or  in  which  it  often  consists. 

Again,  the  faith  of  the  Mohammedan  in  the  doctrines  of 
his  Prophet,  is  a  religious  faith.  It  is  faith  in  a  cruel  and 
partial  God,  in  an  iron  fat«,  and  in  a  sensual  paradise  be- 
yond the  vicissitudes  of  time.  It  is  a  faith  which,  for  the 
most  part,  allows  and  dictates  the  most  hardened  selfish- 
ness ;  and  whose  motive  is  almost  all  that  that  selfishness 
can  ask  in  this  world,  or  hope  for  in  the  world  to  come. 
Some   exception   must,  perhaps,  be   made,  since  even  the 


182  DISCOURSES. 

Koran  has  been  lately  interpreted  to  prohibit  traffic  in 
human  flesh,  yet  it  will  hardly  be  disputed  that  the  gene- 
ral character  of  that  faith,  and  its  general  influence  on  the 
minds  of  its  recipients,  is  such  as  has  been  described. 

Again,  the  faith  of  the  Papist  in  the  Virgin  Mary,  and 
also  in  the  atoning  efficacy  of  penances  and  fasts,  and  the 
superabundant  merits  of  the  saints,  is  a  religious  faith. 
But  when  the  former  is  exercised,  because  it  encourages  the 
soul  in  its  neglect  of  God,  and  the  latter  is  made  use  of  to 
strengthen  the  heart  in  its  secret  purpose  of  continuing  in 
sin,  such  is  an  unholy  faith,  which  corrupts  the  soul  and 
will  bring  down  upon  it  the  displeasure  of  a  righteous  God. 

And  of  just  such  a  character  and  influence  is  that  faith 
in  Jesus  Christ,  which  holds  that  He  will  justify  by  His 
blood  the  man  who  does  not  abandon  sin  in  his  heart,  but 
is  purposed  to  continue  in  his  transgression  of  the  law  of 
righteousness.  Any  faith  that  is  exercised  to  encourage 
the  soul  in  wrong-doing,  with  promises  of  Divine  forgive- 
ness and  favor  therein,  is  a  most  vile  and  wicked  belief, 
since  it  is  an  exercise  of  thought  and  will  proceeding  from 
the  guiltiest  and  basest  intentions  which  it  is  possible  the 
mind  of  man  should  conceive.  And  such  a  faith  will 
steep  the  soul  in  baseness  and  iniquity  ;  and  make  it,  if 
anything  can,  a  fit  inhabitant  for  the  lowest  hell. 

Is  it  not  the  fact  that  such  is  the  faith  which  many  seem 
to  cherish  toward  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ?  And  thus  are 
they  perverting  that  which  is  most  holy  and  most  hallow- 
ing, into  that  which  is  most  sinful,  polluting,  and  God- 
abhorred. 

There  are,  then,  or  may  be,  religious  faiths  whose  char- 
acter and  influence  are  wrong  and  injurious,  and  more  to 
be   condemned,  because  more  consummately  selfish,  than 


DISCOURSES. 

even  the  worst  forms  of  the  faith  which  look  wholly  to 
this  world. 

But  it  is  the  nature,  character  and  influence  of  one  hind 
of  religious  faith,  not  yet  mentioned,  to  which  I  wish 
mainly  to  direct  attention  :  this  is.  Christian  faith.  Chris- 
tian faith  may  be  defined  to  be,  faith  in  the  reality  of  those 
unseen  things  taught  or  affirmed  hy  Jesus  Christ.  These  things 
concern  God  Himself,  and  a  future  world,  and  the  rela- 
tions of  man  to  the  whole.  Bringing  into  view,  therefore, 
the  nature  of  faith,  the  definition  may  be  more  fully  ex- 
pressed thus :  Christian  faith,  as  an  exercise  or  state  of 
mind,  consists  in  acting — with  some  feeling  of  assurance — 
or  being  resolved  to  act,  upon  the  reality  of  what  Christ 
has  taught  concerning  Himself,  concerning  God,  and  a 
future  state,  and  man's  relations  to  the  whole. 

The  moral  character  of  such  a  faith  must  be  determined, 
evidently,  by  an  examination  of  the  nature  of  those  teach- 
ings, and  the  nature  and  grounds  of  those  actions  which 
are  based  upon  their  truthfulness. 

Some  of  the  truths  inculcated  by  Jesus  Christ,  as  will 
be  admitted  by  those  who  have  read  the  Gospels,  are  as 
follows  :  That  God,  the  Creator,  exercises  a  constant  and 
particular  control  over  the  things  of  this  world  and  the 
destinies  of  men ;  that  He  is  a  Being  of  perfect  goodness, 
and  commands  all  men  to  love  Him  supremely,  and  to 
love  one  another  as  they  love  themselves  ;  that  there  is  a 
life  beyond  the  grave,  a  world  to  which  the  souls  of  men 
are  hastening  ;  a  Heaven,  where  "  the  righteous "  shall 
have  "  life  eternal,"  and  a  Hell,  where  the  wicked  "  shall 
go  away  into  everlasting  punishment,"  "  where  their  worm 
dieth  not  and  the  fire  is  not  quenched  ;"  that  He  Himself 
(Christ)  is  the  Son  of  God,  and  that  He  came  down  from 


134  DISCOURSES. 

Heaven  to  be  the  Saviour  of  men,  who  had  sinned ;  and 
that  all  who  should  obey  Him  should  inherit  eternal  life. 
Now  what  kind  of  action  is  it,  that  is  based  upon  these 
teachings  as  being  true  1  Plainly,  it  is  that  kind  of  action 
which  makes  a  man  "  righteous,"  whatever  it  may  be. 
Nay,  we  may  be  specific :  it  is  doing  to  all  men  as  one 
would  wish  they  should  do  to  him ;  loving  supremely  and 
obeying  a  Being  conceived  of  as  perfect  in  purity,  good- 
ness and  wisdom,  and  whose  commands  are  all  righteous  ; 
and  following  the  example  and  instructions  of  One,  the 
purity  and  excellence  of  whose  life  and  teachings  have 
wrung  the  highest  praises  from  the  lips  even  of  infidels, 
the  world  over. 

Now  setting  aside  the  question,  How  great  is  the  proba- 
bility of  the  truthfulness  of  what  Christ  has  said  concern- 
ing the  existence  of  a  God  who  has  commanded  these  right 
actions,  and  will  reward  and  punish  in  another  world  ?  it 
is  evident  that  these  actions  are  eminently  virtuous,  and 
the  faith,  of  which  they  are  the  expression,  is  an  emi- 
nently righteous  faith. 

Nay  !  while  their  probability  is  still  recognized,  the 
more  uncertain  the  reality  of  those  unseen  things  and  those 
eternal  consequences  may  appear,  the  more  virtuous,  as 
has  already  been  observed,  is  this  faith,  since  it  proceeds 
the  more  upon  the  acknowledged  righteousness  of  the  Chris- 
tian precepts.  Christian  faith  is  a  surrender  of  present 
and  certain  good  where  the  law  of  right  demands  it, 
hoping  for  a  reward  unseen  and  future.  The  more  un- 
certain, then,  you  affirm  that  reward  to  be,  the  purer  do 
you  proclaim  the  Christian's  faith,  who  still  obeys  the 
right.  And  the  more  you  urge  that  the  Christian's  faith 
is  unfounded  in  reason,  the  more  you  assert  that  to  be  un- 


DISCOURSES.  135 

reasonable  is  right — a  conclusion,  the  stroke  of  whose  ab- 
surdity your  own  head  must  bear.*  Will  it  be  said  that 
men  may  be  taught  to  obey  the  Christian  precepts  without 
the  Christian  hope  "?  Prove  it !  1  reply.  Show  that  they 
ever  have,  or  ever  will ;  or  else  acknowledge  that  those 
whom  you  assert  to  be  the  most  unreasonable  of  men,  are 
the  most  righteous,  and  that  their  folly  has  made  them  so — 
and  so  saying,  utter  your  own  condemnation. 

The  man  who  obeys  the  Christian  precepts,  does  it  know- 
ing that  they  are  holy  and  good ;  and  he  is,  therefore,  a 
righteous  man.     The  fact  that  he  enjoys  a  sense  of  Divine 

*  There  is  a  very  interesting  phase  of  skepticism  now  extensively  prevalent, 
which,  from  the  premise  above  stated,  deduces  a  different  conclusion,  viz. :  that 
Christianity  makes  a  future  life  too  certain  for  the  highest  style  of  virtue.  It  is 
urged  that  many  professing  Christians  seem  more  to  rely  upon  the  eternal  re- 
ward  of  virtue,  than  to  regard  the  intrinsic  loveliness  of  virtue.  The  early  Chris- 
tians, who  must  rest  their  hopes  mainly  upon  personal  conviction,  instead  of  a 
current  and  popular  faith,  gave  less  occasion  for  this  skepticism, — though  the 
ancients  were  ready  enough  to  press  their  principle,  that  virtue  is  its  own  reward, 
in  this  waj'.  But  in  the  time  of  Pomponatius,  the  apparent  establishment  of 
the  Christian  faith  gave  new  occasion  for  the  old  objection.  This  man,  who  was 
persecuted  while  living,  and  whose  opinions  are  even  now  sadly  misunderstood, 
did  not  deny  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  but  rather  maintained  it  as  a  fact 
proven  by  the  Scriptures,  and  by  them  only.  And  he  questioned  the  meta- 
physical and  moral  proofs  of  a  future  life,  because  they  were  vacated  by  the  prin- 
ciple that  virtue  is  its  own  reward.  Those  who  understood  this  truth  could,  and 
would,  be  virtuous  if  there  were  no  Heaven  to  allure  them  or  no  Hell  to  affright 
them.  Endeavoring  to  show  that  the  principles  of  Aristotle  did  not  prove  im- 
mortality, he  saj's,  in  reply  to  an  objection,  "Virtue  requires  that  we  should 
die  for  our  country  or  our  friends;  and  virtue  is  never  so  perfect  as  when  it 
brings  no  dower  with  it."  But  he  adds — "  Philosophers  and  the  learned  only, 
knoAV  what  pleasures  the  practice  of  virtue  can  procure,  and  what  misery  at- 
tends ignorance  and  vice  ; — but  men  not  understanding  the  excellence  of  virtue 
and  depravity  of  vice,  would  commit  any  wickedness  rather  than  submit  to 
death."'     (See  Warburton's  Div.  Legat.  i.  iii.,  and  Bayle's  Diet.) 

We  may  reconcile  the  difficulties  of  the  skepticism  we  have  named,  perhaps, 
thus:  1.  A  God  of  infinite  goodness  and  wisdom  may  know  how  to  encourage 
virtue  without  corrupting  it.  2.  The  truly  virtuous  disciple  of  Christ  regards  an 
endless  life  not  mainly  as  a  future  reward  for  present  virtue,  but  as  a  boundless 
range  for  the  exerci.se  of  virtue  ;  i.  e..  he  would  fain  live  for  ever,  that  he  may 
be  for  ever  virtuous.    3.  A  certainty  of  future  life  can  never  be  attained  except 


136  DISCOURSES. 

favor,  and  a  hope  of  future  reward,  does  not  take  away  hig 
regard  for  the  right,  and  does  not,  therefore,  destroy  his 
righteousness;  it  only  encourages  and  confirms  him  in  it, 
and  prompts  him  to  new  efforts  of  obedience.  Thus  is  he 
preserved  from  acts  of  transgression,  and  by  a  continued 
obedience  grows  stronger  and  stronger  in  his  love  of  the 
right. 

"We  say,  then,  the  activity  of  Christian  faith  is  a  righte- 
ous activity,  consisting  in  virtuous  acts  ;  and  Christian  faith, 
therefore,  is  a  righteous  faith,  or  a  morally  right  exercise  of 
mind. 

We  come  next  to  the  consideration  of  its  influence  upon 
human  character.  That  it  is  purifying  in  its  influence  is 
involved  in  what  has  just  been  said.  It  leads  the  soul  to 
forsake  evil  and  to  practice  righteousness  ;  and  makes  it  by 
so  doing  strong  in  its  love  of  the  right.  It  is  not,  however, 
merely  an  external  conformity  to  the  law  of  moral  purity 
that  it  requires  and  produces :  a  true  exercise  of  Chris- 
tian faith  implies  an  abandonment  of  that  selfishness  of  the 
heart  which  is  the  essence  of  all  sin.  It  implies  a  hearty 
love  for  the  cliaracter  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  an  effort  to  be 
like  Him.  It  implies  a  choice  of  those  holy  joys  which  are 
the  joys  of  heaven,  and  which  dwell  in  the  bosom  of  God 
Himself.  Yes,  it  is  a  "  faith  which  works  by  love,  and 
purifies  the  heart."  So  far  as  it  is  exercised  it  destroys  all 
those  unholy  passions  by  which  man  is  led  to  wrong  his 
fellow,  and  opens  the  heart  to  those  generous  sympathies 

by  personal  conviction,  as  distinct  from  current  opinion,  and  conjoined  with  an 
advanced  moral  experience.  This  is  the  "  full  assurance  of  hope,''  of  which  Paul 
speaks.  4.  The  probabilities  of  a  future  life,  found  in  the  history  and  docunaents 
of  Christianity,  or  in  the  wants  of  man,  are  eminently  fitted  to  lead  the  indi- 
vidual on  from  selfishness  or  indifference,  to  an  unselfish  love  of  Christ,  and  an 
unselfish  desire  to  dwell  with  Him  in  an  endless  life. —  [Ed. 


DISCOURSES.  137 

by  which  balm  and  blessing  are  poured  out  on  the  wants 
and  sorrows  of  the  world.  It  cleanses  the  soul  from  all 
selfish  and  polluting  lusts,  and  makes  it  the  abode  of  love 
Divine.  It  is  a  purifying  faith.  But  again,  Christian  faith 
is  elevating  in  its  influence  upon  human  character.*  And 
this,  because  it  springs  from  the  noblest  motives,  and  looks 
to  the  most  exalted  and  far-reaching  objects  that  can  em- 
ploy the  mind  of  man.  It  is  a  faith  that  stops  not  to  busy 
itself  with  the  present,  the  finite  and  the  perishing,  but 
looks  beyond,  unto  the  future,  the  infinite  and  the  ever- 
lasting. The  man  that  lives  by  this  faith  is  not  circum- 
scribed by  the  sight  of  his  mortal  eyes,  but  is  acting  in  view 
of  objects  eternal  and  without  limit.  He  is  not  anxiously 
inquiring  "what  shall  I  eat  and  what  shall  I  drink,  and 
wherewithal  shall  I  be  clothed?"  but,  when  "  shall  this  cor- 
ruptible put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal  put  on  immor- 
tality *?"  He  is  seeking,  not  that  "  honor  which  comethfrom 
men,"  and  which  shall  soon  be  forgotten  ;  but,  that  "  honor 
which  Cometh  from  God,"  and  shall  endure  like  God  Him- 
self., He  is  striving,  not  for  a  treasure  which  he  shall  leave 
behind  him,  with  groans  and  tears  in  this  burial  place  of 
his  mortal  body,  but  for  a  treasure  to  which  he  shall  ascend 
amid  the  songs  of  angels,  in  the  dwelling-place  of  immor- 
tal spirits,  on  the  banks  of  the  river  of  life. 

He  asks  not  how  he  shall  please  "  a  man  that  shall  die, 
and  the  son  of  man  that  shall  be  made  as  grass,"  but  re- 
membereth  "  the  Lord  his  Maker,  that  hath  stretched  forth 

*  "What  can  be  more  instructive  than  to  trace  the  one  great  principle  of  faith 
in  God,  existing  in  combination  with  the  most  different  degrees  of  moral  know- 
ledge, yet  always  so  ennobling  the  character  in  which  it  dwells  as  to  raise  it 
above  the  standard  of  its  own  times;  and  thus  to  witness  in  each  generation 
that  it  is  the  true  salt  of  human  nature,  the  main  element  of  its  highest  perfec- 
tion ?"    Dr.  Arnold.    Misc.  Works,  pp.  150, 151. 

7* 


138  DISCOURSES. 

the  heavens,  and  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth."  He 
weeps  ever  the  trials  and  sorrows  of  life,  not  with  the 
despairing  cry  that  his  hopes  are  destroyed,  and  evil  hath 
overwhelmed  him  ;  but  with  the  soothing  and  consoling 
assurance  that  ''  all  these  things  are  working  together  for 
his  good."  He  rejoices  not  in  a  hope  whose  tomb  is  in  his 
sight,  and  darkness  beyond  it ;  but  in  a  hope  whose  bloom 
is  everlasting,  and  whose  blossoms  shall  unfold  forever  be- 
neath the  shining  of  God's  face.  He  walks  life's  pathway, 
not  with  a  groan  in  his  heart  that  the  grave  is  before  him, 
and  that  "his  pomp  and  his  rejoicing  shall  descend  into  it ;" 
but  with  the  exalting  cry  ready  to  break  forth  from  his 
lips  :  "  O  Death,  where  is  thy  sting:  O  Grave,  where  is 
thy  victory !"  Yea,  he  "  lifteth  up  his  eyes  to  the  heavens, 
and  looketh  upon  the  earth  beneath,"  and  saith :  "The 
heavens  shall  vanish  away  like  smoke,  and  the  earth  shall 
wax  old  like  a  garment,  and  they  that  dwell  therein  shall 
die  in  like  manner  ;  but  the  salvation  of  God  shall  be  for- 
ever, and  his  righteousness  shall  not  be  abolished."* 

The  faith  of  the  Christian  is  an  elevating  faith,  expanding 
the  soul  to  the  measure  of  things  infinite  and  everlasting. 

It  is  also,  once  more,  a  faith  that  confers  upon  the  soul  the 
'purest  and  most  unchanging  happiness. 

The  feeling  of  assurance  which  attends  the  evidence  of 
the  truth  may  be  at  first  feeble  and  faltering,  and  the  joy 
of  faith  in  its  fii'st  uncertain  steps  may  therefore  be  small. 

*  It  is  in  accordance,  also,  with  the  principles  now  advanced  that  the  fact  is 
found  in  human  experience  which  is  expressed  in  the  maxim  that '"  faith  gives 
the  mind  a  new  perception."  So  many  and  so  wonderful  are  the  truths  which 
the  soul  that  has,  taken  the  Gospel  as  the  object  of  its  fervent  faith  is  continually 
getting  sight  of,  that  it  seems  to  itself  to  be  endowed  with  new  faculties  to  per- 
ceive. The  eye  of  such  a  soul  sees  the  hand-writing  of  God  throughout  all  the 
forms  in  heaven  and  earth,  uttering  the  same  solemn  lesson,  and  pointing  to  th» 
same  glorious  hope  which  it  has  learned  from  the  lips  of  Christ. 


DISCOURSES.  139 

But  from  the  expansive  nature  of  the  mind  under  exercise, 
and  the  cumulative  nature  of  moral  evidence,  that  feeling 
will  increase  when  the  truth  is  acted  on,  and  will  continue  to 
increase  as  obedience  continues,  until  the  joy  which  it  shall 
give  to  the  soul  shall  be  such  as  no  earthly  power  can  dis- 
turb. 

Let  the  purpose  of  faith  be  strong  and  unwavering,  and 
God  has  not  so  "  left  Himself  without  witness,"  but  that  its 
trust,  its  firm  confidence,  its  holy  peace,  and  its  serene  joy 
shall  follow  : — yea,  they  shall  flow  into  the  soul  like  life 
from  heaven.  Whether  the  Christian  faith  is  true  or  not, 
such  are  the  facts  of  human  experience,  as  thousands  have 
testified,  and  can  testify.  The  widowed  mourner,  in  her 
poverty  and  loneliness,  has  felt  the  consolation  of  this  faith, 
and  lifted  her  eye,  with  a  tear  of  peace  and  gratitude,  to 
those  heavens  where  God  her  Saviour  dwelleth.  The 
"  persecuted  for  righteousness'  sake,"  and  the  martyr  for 
the  Gospel,  have  felt  it,  and  been  strong  to  sufi*er  and  to 
die  for  Christ.  The  man  of  active  piety,  the  preacher  of 
righteousness,  and  the  tried  and  toiling  witness  for  the 
"  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,"  have  felt  it,  and  though  the  whole 
world  around  was  against  them,  they  have  toiled  on  with 
an  energy  and  hope  the  world  could  not  overcome. 

And  it  must  be  so.  When  we  look  at  the  objects  of  the 
Christian's  faith,  we  see  that  it  must  be  so.  The  sight  of 
Infinite  Glory,  such  as  no  created  loveliness  can  compai-e 
with,  no  mortal  goodness  can  resemble !  The  love  of  that 
Glorious  Being,  unchanging  and  immeasurable  !  The  pres- 
ence of  Jesus,  the  friend  of  sinners,  for  ever !  "  An  inherit- 
ance among  all  them  that  are  sanctified,"  "  incorruptible 
and  full  of  glory  !"  All,  all  that  a  pure  heart  can  wish, 
or  that  imagination  can  conceive,  and  the  promise  of  even 


140  DISCOURSES. 

more !  These  are  the  objects  of  the  Christian's  faith,  and 
the  joj  which  comes  from  hopes  like  these  is  the  wfiuence 
of  that  faith.  And  the  man  who  lives  by  it  will  tell  you 
that  he  is  not  left  to  the  opei'ation  of  merely  natural  causes 
for  his  peace  and  consolation;  but  that  "the  Spirit  itself 
beareth  witness  with  our  spirit,  that  we  are  the  children 
of  God  ;  and  if  children,  then  heirs — heirs  of  God,  and 
joint-heirs  with  Christ ;"  "  whom  not  having  seen  we  love  ; 
in  whom,  though  now  we  see  him  not,  yet  believing,  we 
rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory,  receiving 
the  reward  of  our  faith,  even  the  salvation  of  our  souls."* 

I  observe,  in  conclusion.  Christian  faith  is  a  right  religious 
faith,  and  a  thing  most  to  be  desired  for  the  human  character. 
Until  the  infidel  can  find  a  faith  more  pure,  more  elevating, 
and  more  blissful  in  its  influence,  he  should  not  sneer  at  this 
unless  he  would  be  found  sneering  at  all  that  is  lovely  and  de- 
sirable in  the  human  soul.  What  is  the  faith  of  the  men  of 
this  world,  compared  with  the  Christian's  faith  ?  Faith  in 
things  perishable,  compared  with  faith  in  things  imperisha- 
ble? Faith  in  things  finite,  with  faith  in  things  infinite? 
Faith  in  sensual  things,wdth  faith  in  spiritual  things  ?  Faith 
in  joys  earthly  and  transient,  with  faith  in  joys  heavenly 
and  everlasting  ?  And  what  is  the  faith  of  the  infidel, 
compared  with  such  a  faith  ?  Faith  in  darkness,  compared 
with  faith  in  the  light  I  Faith  in  death  compared  with 
faith  in  life  !  Faith  in  emptiness  and  nothing,  compared 
with  faith  in  an  all-glorious  Creator  and  God,  and  in  all 
the  good  which  such  a  Being  can  bestow ! 

May  God  save  me  from  the  Infidel's  faith  !  May  I  live 
with  the  Christian's  faith  in  my  heart,  and  die  with  it  burn- 
ing on  my  lips  in  utterances  of  praise  !  and  you,  dear 
reader ! 

♦  The  Author  in  a  note  here  alludes  to  "  the  exploits  of  religious  faith,"  Heb.  xi. 


DISCOURSE       VIII. 


Faith  in  God — Its  Nature  and  Influence. 

Hebrews,  xi.  6  :  "  He  that  cometh  to  God  must  believe  that 
He  is,  and  that  He  is  a  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently 
seek  HimT  1  Pet.  i.  21  :  "  That  your  faith  and  hope 
might  he  in  GodP 

In  discussing  the  various  applications  of  the  principle  or 
act  of  Faith — in  other  words,  the  various  kinds  of  faith — 
we  have  noticed,  in  general,  the  nature,  character,  and  in- 
fluence of  worldly,  and  also  of  religious  faith.  The  latter 
we  have  seen  to  be  of  various  kinds  ;  and  these  kinds  not 
all  of  one  character.  Without  examining  at  all  into  the  evi- 
dence by  which  they  are  substantiated,  we  have  seen,  from 
the  character  of  the  actions  which  constitute  their  activity, 
that  some  kinds  of  religious  faith  are  of  a  vicious  or  wrong 
character,  while  others  are  virtuous  or  right.  The  various 
kinds  of  right  religious  faith  now  call  for  some  further  and 
more  particular  notice.  There  is  faith  in  God — the  God 
of  the  Bible  ;  His  government  and  providential  care  ;  His 
wisdom,  His  goodness  and  accessibility  ;  and  faith  in  Christ 
also,  as  Redeemer,  Lord,  and  Teacher.  One  of  these  we 
propose  to  discuss  at  this  time ;  or,  considered  under  the 
general  head  of  the  various  kinds  of  faith,  to  consider  : 

4tb.  Faith  in  God — the  God  of  the  Bible. 

By  faith  in  God  is  always  meant,  as  was  previously  no- 

*  A  note  of  the  author  indicates  his  design,  had  he  lived,  to  introduce  in  this 
Discourse  the  ''  relation  of  faith  to  morals,  or  the  ground  of  obligation  to  it." 


U2  DISCOURSES. 

ticed,  faith  insoyne  truth  asserted  concerning  God;' as,  for  ex- 
ample, that  He  "  loveth  righteousness  ;"  or  that  He  "hear- 
eth  the  cry  of  the  humble;"  or,  that  His  "eyes  are  open 
upon  all  the  ways  of  the  sons  of  men,"  and  "  whatsoever 
pleaseth  Him,  that  doeth  He  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  in  the 
seas  and  all  deep  places ;"  or  it  is  faith  in  some  othe?-  great 
truth  respecting  His  being,  character,  or  will. 

Thus,  when  it  is  said,  that  "  by  faith  Noah,  being  warn- 
ed of  God  .  .  .  prepared  an  ark,  to  the  saving  of  his 
house,"  or,  that  "  Abraham  staggered  not  at  the  promise 
of  God,  through  unbelief,  but  was  strong  in  faith,"  this 
disposition,  or  act,  of  Noah  and  of  Abraham  is  called  "  faith 
in  God."  But  this  expression  is  elliptical,  for  it  evidently 
signifies  faith  in  God's  power  and  truthfulness ;  in  other 
words,  faith  in  the  proposition  that  God  is  able  and  true. 

The  various  truths  asserted  in  Holy  Scripture  concern- 
ing the  Lord  Jehovah,  and  commonly  denoted  or  referred 
to  in  the  phrase  "  faith  in  God,"  may  be  comprehended 
under  the  terms  of  the  providence,  tJie  goodness,  and  the  acces- 
sibility of  God. 

The  word  Providence  I  use  here  in  its  most  comprehen- 
sive sense.  It  is  asserted  that  the  knowledge  and  power  of 
God  extend  to  all  human  events,  and  that  He  is  exercising 
y  moral  government  over  men,  and  directing  and  control- 
ing  all  the  actions  and  issues  of  life.  All  the  truths  em- 
oraced  in  these  propositions : — the  Divine  care  for  His 
creatures  ;  the  Divine  government  over  men,  administered 
according  to  an  expressed  law ;  the  Divine  knowledge 
witnessing  and  even  foreseeing  every  act  and  condition  of 
human  life ;  and  the  Divine  power,  able  to  control  and 
direct  them  all,  within  those  limits  which  Supreme  Wis- 
dom shall  direct — all  these  truths  are  included  under  the 
term  "  Providence  of  God." 


DISCOURSES.  143 

The  "goodness  of  God,"  denotes  the  truth,  likewise  as- 
serted bj  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  that  He  is  such  a  Being 
that  all  the  acts,  and  the  whole  scheme  and  aim  of  His 
providence,  are  directed  invariably  by  the  supreme  law  of 
love,  benevolence,  compassion,  and  kindness  toward  the 
whole  of  His  creatures,  and  toward  each  one  of  them,  so 
far  as  the  good  of  the  whole  will  allow ;  that  He  does  so 
care  for  the  happiness  of  each  and  all  the  inhabitants  of 
this  world,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  that  nothing 
which  His  infinite  power  and  all-seeing  wisdom  can  do  for 
their  good,  consistently  with  the  great  principles  of  univer- 
sal justice  and  supreme  benevolence,  will  be  left  undone. 

And  by  the  "  accessibility  of  God"  I  mean  another  truth, 
equally  asserted  in  Scripture — his  accessibility  to  true  sup- 
pliants ;  or  the  fact  that  He  regards  the  sincere  prayers  of 
His  obedient  creatures,  and  will  gi-ant  their  requests  so  far 
as  the  best  principles  of  government  will  allow. 

In  considering,  therefore,  the  subject  of  faith  in  God,  it 
is  faith  in  these  truths  that  we  speak  of :  that  God  has  en- 
acted a  certain  law  for  the  moral  conduct  of  men,  and  is 
administerino:  a  natural  government  over  all  the  events  of 
life  in  such  a  way  as  to  carry  out  the  principles  of  this 
government,  and  further  its  ends;  that  He  Himself  is  gov- 
erned also  in  all  the  administration  of  this  government,  Wy 
the  supreme  law  of  love ;  and  that  He  will  hear  and  an- 
swer prayer  in  accordanee  with  the  dictates  of  the  same 
law.  In  considering,  therefore,  first,  the  nature  of  faith  in 
God,  or  ichat  it  is,  we  observe,  it  is  faith  in  His  providence, 
His  goodness  and  accessibility.  And  to  have  faith  in  these 
is,  io  recognize  their  prohahilitij,  and  act  upon  them. 

The  first  of  these  elements,  the  recognition  of  the  proba- 
bility of  these  great  truths  affirmed  concerning  the  Lord 


144  DISCOURSES. 

Almighty,  is  perhaps  wanting  in  but  few  minds  among 
those  who  have  been  permitted  to  see  the  light  of  Divine 
Revelation.  That  they  are  probable,  is  what  we  cannot 
now  pause  to  argue,  but  what  we  do,  nevertheless,  unhesi- 
.tatingly  and  loudly  afi&rm  in  the  face  of  all  men.  And 
there  is  one  idea  touching  the  proof  which  I  will  here  merely 
mention.  It  is  quite  commonly  said,  even  among  defend- 
ers of  Christianity,  that  the  benevolence  of  God  must 
first  be  proved  from  nature  alone,  before  a  revelation  from 
Him  can  be  received  as  trustworthy.  But  this  is  not  alto- 
gether true.  The  existence^  in  this  world,  of  Jesus  Christ  is 
a  phenomenon  that  requires  to  be  accounted  for ;  and  it 
can  only  be  accounted  for — we  challenge  the  whole  world 
to  maintain  the  contrary — it  can  only  be  accounted  for  on 
the  supposition  that  He  did  truly  "  come  from  God,"  and 
that  God  is  a  Being  of  infinite  goodness,  who  does  care  for 
the  happiness  of  men,  and  will  visit  their  conduct  with 
righteous  retribution. 

The  life  of  Jesus  Christ  in  this  world,  therefore,  is,  in  all 
which  it  comprehends,  a  moral  demonstration  of  the  be- 
nevolence and  providence  of  God,  even  supposing  there 
were  no  other  proof.  Nay,  more !  We  afiirm  that  it  is 
the  greatest  of  all  ^  roofs  that  can  be  offered ;  and  the  proof 
tipon  which  all  Christian  hearts,  the  world  over,  do  mostly, 
and  well  nigh  entirely,  rely. 

But  to  return.  The  probability  of  these  great  asserted 
truths  is  seen  at  some  period  of  their  lives  by  most  or  all 
men  who  have  the  Bible  in  their  hands,  and  certainly 
may  be  seen  by  all.  It  is  only  obedience  to  these  truths  which 
they  lack  to  the  possession  of  faith.  To  act  upon  them 
would  make  them  true  believers. 

To  live  in  this  world,  as  if  one  saw  the  hand  of  God 


DISCOURSES.  146 

moving  amid  all  its  shifting  scenes  and  events ;  raising  up 
one,  and  putting  down  another;  directing  with  resistless 
power  the  issue  of  every  human  plan  and  effort ;  and  giving 
to  one  prosperity,  and  to  another  adversity,  as  He  will, 
(though  not  without  reference  to  man's  employment  of 
means) ;  and  to  live,  therefore,  as  if  it  were  folly  to  strive 
for  earthly  good  out  of  the  line  of  rectitude  ;  to  act  as  if 
it  were  true  that  God  does  govern  and  decide  the  mortal 
and  immortal  destinies  of  men,  and  as  if  were  best,  therefore, 
to  obey  His  righteous  laws  and  endeavor  to  please  Him ; 
to  take  no  event  of  life  as  fortuitous,  but  seeing  in  every 
one  a  Divine  meaning;,  or  searchino-  therefor,  to  make  such 
use  of  it  as  God  designed  ;  to  rest  upon  the  care  of  the 
Almighty  and  all-seeing  one,  and  refuse  to  entertain 
desponding  and  anxious  thoughts  about  the  future  of  this 
life ;  to  live  as  if  that  future  were  safe,  so  long  as  the  heart 
shall  keep  itself  right  with  God,  giving  it  all  up  into  the 
keeping  and  disposal  of  that  unsleeping  hand,  and  striving 
only  to  see  and  follow  the  pointing  of  its  unerring  finger ; 
to  run  forward  with  alacrity  upon  the  shining  pathway  of 
God's  holy  precepts,  as  if  one  saw,  in  very  deed,  the  wreath 
of  immortal  glory  hung  out  before  him  from  the  opening 
portals  of  celestial  bliss  ;  this,  this  is  faith — faith  in  the 
Providence  of  God ! 

To  receive  all  the  good  gifts  of  life  as  the  gracious  offer- 
ings of  Divine  love,  answering  them  back  with  grateful 
devotion ;  to  turn  the  eye  upward  in  the  midst  of  provo- 
cation and  annoyance,  and  be  calm  ;  to  check  the  fount  of 
weeping  when  sorrow  cometh,  and  light  up  the  tearful  cheek 
with  smiles,  by  the  thought  that,  though  darkness  is  writ- 
ten in  gloomy  lines  upon  its  front,  brightness  is  behind  the 
cloud — an  "exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory;"  and 


146  DISCOURSES. 

to  bow  down  under  the  chastisement  without  a  murmur ; 
to  live  as  if  sure  that  no  evil  can  happen  to  the  righteous 
soul,  but  it  shall  find  life  and  blessing  forever  ;  to  live  as 
if  the  presence  that  filleth  heaven  and  earth  were  a  pres- 
ence of  light  and  love,  and  the  sympathies  of  infinite  emo- 
tion were  on  the  side  of  pure  and  high  benevolence ;  and 
as  if  the  hate  and  cruel  wrong  of  this  world  were  but  a 
dark  spot  in  the  far  corner  of  a  universe  of  radiant  glory  ; 
and  as  if  the  strength  of  immeasurable  might  were  arrayed 
against  sin,  and  on  the  side  of  holiness ;  this  it  is,  to  have 
faith  in  the  Goodness  of  God. 

To  act,  as  though  it  were  true  that  the  entreating  voice 
of  the  penitent  and  obedient  heart  were  heard  of  God  ;  to 
act,  as  though  there  were  help  to  be  found  in  time  of  need, 
by  asking  it  of  the  Lord  ;  to  live,  as  though  there  were 
rich  treasures  of  grace  and  blessing,  which  God  is  ready  to 
bestow  upon  him  that  maketh  request ;  to  entreat,  as 
though  the  tide  of  sin  and  sorrow,  that  sweeps  over  this 
world,  could  be  rolled  back  by  the  voice  of  supplication, 
and  the  dark  places  of  death  and  misery  be  made  effulgent 
by  the  light  of  life ;  to  ask,  as  though  men  were  perishing 
of  need,  and  as  though  the  infinite  and  eternal  treasures  of 
God's  bounty  were  running  over  in  His  hands,  and  ready 
to  be  given  to  ten  thousand  souls  for  the  entreaty  of  one ; 
to  pray,  as  if  prayer  would  rend  the  crystal  firmament  and 
bring  down  heaven  to  earth,  and  God  to  dwell  in  the  habi- 
tations of  men  ; — this  it  is  to  have  faith  in  God's  willing- 
ness to  answer  prayer. 

If  men  would  thus  live,  thus  worship,  and  thus  pray, 
then  at  His  coming  would  the  Son  of  Man  "  find  faith 
on  the  earth." 

And  it  is  only  in  proportion  as  men  do  thus  live,  adore, 


DISCOURSES.  147 

and  continually  pray,  that  they  have  "  faith  in  God."  And 
what  is  Avanting  in  most  men  to  this  faith,  is  not,  as  has 
already  been  remarked,  the  intellectual  conviction,  but  the 
willingness  of  the  heart  to  act  upon  it.  It  is  true  that  by 
refusing  so  to  act,  men  may  stifle  this  conviction,  and  lose 
it  entirely ;  but  I  believe,  at  some  period  of  their  lives, 
God  gives  it  to  most  men  so  as  reasonably  to  demand  their 
obedience.  And  there  are  thousands  who  live  all  their 
days  with  an  intellectual  belief  of  the  character  and  gov- 
ernment of  God,  who  yet  never  make  it  a  practical.  Scrip- 
tural faith,  by  lives  of  obedient  holiness. 

It  is  possible,  indeed,  to  conceive  of  a  being  who  shall 
have  a  icicked  faith  in  the  providence  and  goodness  of  God. 
This  is  when  the  understanding  recognizes  these  truths, 
and  the  heart  openly  curses  and  rebels  against  them.  This 
is  acting  on  them ;  but  it  is  acting  according  to  the  dic- 
tates of  a  Satanic  spirit.  Such  bold  and  dreadful  wicked- 
ness, it  is  to  be  hoped,  is  never  perpetrated  in  this  world  : 
in  the  dark  world  of  damned  spirits  it  may  he.  There,  it 
may  be,  the  lost  soul  casts  off  all  restraint,  and  exposes  its 
awful  wickedness  to  the  gaze  of  angels  and  men,  acknowl- 
edging that  God  is  good  and  doeth  good,  and  cursing  Him 
for  it!* 

*  In  common  with  multitudes  in  our  day,  the  author  felt  the  difficulty  of  re- 
conciling the  Divine  goodness  with  the  final  and  eternal  misery  of  the  lost.  This 
was  the  heaviest  burden  of  his  faith,  and  it  prepared  him  to  be  astonished  at 
the  force  of  reasoning  in  certain  arguments  respecting  the  nature  of  the  second 
death,  "  contrary  to  his  previous  convictions," — and  made  him  very  anxious  to 
see  a  new  discussion  of  the  subject. 

In  the  above  paragraph  he  approaches,  we  think,  a  true  and  very  important 
view  of  the  subject,  viz. :  that  tliose  who  at  the  last  prove  unworthy  of  eternal 
life,  would  prefer  that  God  should  appear  to  have  been  unjust,  or  even  malignant, 
towards  them  ;  and  the  vanishing  of  all  their  cherished  doubts  of  His  goodness 
will  be  their  bitterest  anguish.  Just  as,  to  one  who  has  through  distrust  allowed 
an  alienation  of  friendship,  there  is  nothing  so  torturing  as  the  too  late  discovery 
that  the  affection  of  an  injured  friend  has  been  ever  constant. —  [Ed. 


148  DISCOURSES. 

But  that  faith  in  the  providence  and  goodness  of  God, 
which  is  generally  or  always  found  in  this  world,  where 
there  is  any  faith  at  all,  is  the  faith  which  acts  upon  these 
truths  by  obedience  and  love.  Such,  at  least,  is  the  faith 
we  are  considering,  which  is  a  righteous  faith. 

And  speaking  of  such  a  faith,  we  say  :  he  believes  in 
the  providential  care  of  God  who  commits  all  his  interests 
into  the  Divine  keeping  and  refuses  to  think  of  fear  ;  he 
believes  that  God  governs  men  by  a  righteous  law,  who, 
knowing  that  it  is  therefore  best  to  obey  that  law,  acts  upon 
it  hy  obeying ;  he  believes  in  the  goodness  of  God  who 
adores  Him  for  it,  nourishes  his  hopes  and  allays  his  griefs 
by  it,  and  cherishes  in  his  soul  the  love  of  goodness  by  the 
power  of  its  infinite  sympathy  and  mefisureless  attraction ; 
and  he  believes  that  God  heareth  prayer,  who  acts  upon  it 
with  glad  and  unceasing  supplication. 

Such,  dear  friends,  is  the  nature  of  faith  in  God.  But 
let  us  now  notice, 

Secondly,  the  peculiar  influence  of  such  a  faith*  After  such 
a  view  of  its  nature,  indeed,  it  needs  not  to  speak  particu- 
larly of  its  influence  ;  yet  it  may  be  well  for  a  moment  to 
direct  attention  to  this  point  alone.  I  remark,  then  (first) 
such  a  faith  enlarges  the  soul.  Man  must  believe  something 
— must  act,  as  we  have  seen,  upon  some  probable  truth  ; 
and  what  truth  can  be  proposed  to  him  so  high  and  expan- 
sive as  the  doctrine  of  a  God  ?  What  other  practical 
truth  can  compare  with  it  ?  What  other  practical  truth, 
concerning  the  affairs  of  this  world,  is  so  expansive  to  the 

*  The  following  note  of  the  author  indicates  the  changes  he  would  have  made 
in  this  discussion:  "Peculiar  influences; — better — 1st,  Elevate  the  soul;  2d, 
Draw  into  fellowship  with  God  (i.  e.,  by  faith  in  the  doctrine  of  pra3'er) ;  3d, 
Nourish,  by  sympathy,  &c.,  the  principle  of  love;  4th,  To  give  firmness  and  sta- 
bility to  the  character,  taking  away  the  fear  of  man." 


DISCOURSES.  149 

thoughts  and  so  ennobling  to  the  heart  that  believes  it,  as 
this  truth,  that  they  are  all  wielded  by  an  Omnipotent 
Hand,  and  directed  by  an  Omniscient  Eye,  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  purposes  of  Infinite  Goodness  ?  that  God 
is  in  the  world,  turning  the  current  of  its  history,  leading 
on  His  people  in  the  paths  of  life,  overruling  the  machina- 
tions of  His  enemies,  bringing  order  out  of  its  confusion 
and  light  out  of  its  darkness,  and  rolling  on  the  mighty 
tide  of  its  events  to  the  grand  and  glorious  consummation 
of  "  righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost  ?" 

How  elevating  is  the  faith  of  the  politician^  or  the  soldier y 
compared  with  such  a  faith  ?  The  faith  of  a  Napoleon,  in 
the  prowess  of  his  own  genius,  when  the  hour  of  dreadful 
conflict  was  approaching,  may  have  possessed  a  seeming 
grandeur  and  sublimity  ;  but  what  was  it  to  the  faith  of  a 
Cromwell  in  the  Invisible  and  Almighty  God  of  battles, 
who  could  rule,  with  a  whisper,  the  raging  of  His  foes,  or 
blow  away  His  enemies  with  the  breath  of  His  mouth '? 

The  faith  of  a  Pitt,  in  the  power  of  his  alliances  and 
his  financial  schemes,  to  stay  the  march  of  the  dreaded  con- 
queror, and  deliver  trembling  and  bleeding  Europe,  may 
seem  imposing  to  the  looker-on ;  but  what  was  it  to  the 
faith  of  a  Washington,  who  bent  his  knee  in  prayer  to 
Him  who  ruleth  the  hearts  of  men,  and  can  "  deliver  the 
needy  when  they  cry  V 

The  faith  of  a  Columbus,  in  a  new  world  beyond  the 
untravelled  ocean,  was  elevating  and  inspiring  to  the  soul, 
and  most  worthy  of  a  noble  genius  ;  but  what  was  it,  in 
all  its  greatness,  to  the  faith  of  every  humble  Christian  in 
that  new  and  invisible  world  beyond  the  flood  of  death, 
whose  brightness  outvies  the  sun,  and  where  the  city  of 
our  God  sheds  the  radiance  of  its  jasper  walls,  day  without 
night,  upon  the  happy  bands  of  the  redeemed  ! 


150  DISCOURSES 

Come  here,  ye  great  men,  and  ye  aspiring  and  proud, 
come  here  and  learn  wisdom  of  him  who  has  faith  in  God, 
though  it  be  but  a  lowly  child. 

Who  is  the  great  man  ?  He  who  lives  as  if  this  world 
wer5  all — toiling,  it  may  be,  with  an  angel's  strength,  to 
master  as  much  as  mortal  fingers  can  grasp  of  its  power, 
or  wealth,  or  fame,  to  die  in  a  few  days  and  leave  it  1  or 
he  who  almost  forgets  this  world  in  his  sense  of  the  pres- 
ence therein  of  its  Almighty  and  glorious  Creator,  and 
who  lives  borne  up  continually  on  the  wings  of  infinite 
thought,  and  illumined  with  all  the  radiance  of  eternal 
truth  *?  Such  is  the  man  who  has  a  living  and  abiding 
faith  in  God  ;  and  such  is  the  expansive  influence  of  this 
faith  upon  the  soul. 

But  (secondly)  this  faith  tends  to  rectify  the  character.  Its 
activity  consists^  in  part,  of  obedience  to  the  great  laws  of 
rectitude  which  all  men  acknowledge  to  be  contained  in 
the  Christian  Scriptures  in  the  utmost  purity.  And  more 
than  this,  it  places  a  man  at  such  an  elevated  position  as 
makes  him  regard  sin  as  the  blindest  folly,  and  uprightness 
as  true  wisdom,  while  it  holds  also  before  his  eyes  a  pic- 
ture of  immortal  blessedness  to  animate  his  upward  steps. 
It  is  the  man  who  forgets  God,  and  none  else,  that  ima- 
gines wickedness  to  be  gain,  and  perversity  to  be  the  path 
of  peace.  He  who  has  faith  in  God,  has  faith  in  the  wis- 
dom of  uprightness. 

But  again,  this  faith  nourishes^  hy  sympathy  and  attraction, 
the  principle  of  love.  Man,  who  is  so  easily  and  so  power- 
fully influenced  by  sympathy,  is  too  often  led  astray  by  the 
sympathies  of  evil  which  surround  him  in  this  world.  But 
he  whose  faith  is  in  God,  lives  under  the  influence  of  a 
greater  sympathy  for  good  than  all  the  sympathies  for  evil 


DISCOURSES.  151 

which  the  whole  world  can  present.  He  feels,  in  whatever 
circumstances,  that  few  are  on  the  side  of  selfishness  ;  for 
God,  who  is  infinitely  more  than  all,  is  on  the  side  of  love. 
The  emotions  of  an  Infinite  Mind,  and  the  attractiveness 
of  spotless  and  immeasurable  goodness,  are  appealing  to 
his  sympathies  and  his  affections,  and  drawing  him  over 
more  and  more  to  true  benevolence. 

How  hardening,  often,  to  a  young  and  generous  heart,  is 
that  selfishness  with  which  it  meets  on  entering  actively 
into  life;  and  how  lost  is  the  soul  which  has  lost  its  faith 
in  goodness.  One  truly  benevolent  friend  will  sometimes 
save  from  moral  ruin  a  soul  that  without  him  was  fast  run- 
ning into  this  unbelief.  It  is  something  to  have  faith  in 
goodness,  even  in  a  human  being,  imperfect  as  its  manifes- 
tation must  be  ;  yea,  it  is  much.  But  how  much  more  to 
have  faith  in  goodness,  infiiiite  and  without  spot,  in  the 
person  of  an  omnipresent  and  Almighty  God  ! 

But  finally,  the  mjiuence  of  Jaith  in  God  is  to  give  peace, 
and  hope,  and  joy.  "  I  have  set  the  Lord  always  before 
me,"  is  the  language  of  the  possessor  of  this  faith  ;  "  be- 
cause He  is  at  my  right  hand,  I  shall  not  be  moved."  "  I 
will  call  upon  God,  and  the  Lord  shall  save  me."  "  My 
soul  shall  be  satisfied,  as  with  marrow  and  fatness,  and  my 
moutli  shall  praise  thee  with  joyful  lips  ;"  "  in  the  shadow 
of  thy  wings  will  I  rejoice."  "Although  the  fig-tree  shall 
not  blossom,  neither  shall  fruit  be  in  the  vines  ;  the  labor 
of  the  olive  shall  fail,  and  the  field  shall  yield  no  meat ; 
the  flock  shall  be  cut  off  from  the  fold,  and  there  shall  be 
no  herd  in  the  stalls, — yet  will  I  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  I  will 
ioy  in  the  God  of  my  salvation." 

There  is  no  faith  like  faith  in  God !  Is  yours  such  a 
faith,  reader  %  or  do  you  believe  in  the  promises  of  this 


152  DISCOURSES. 

world,  and  refuse  to  believe  in  God?  "According  to  your 
faith  "  it  will  be  unto  you;  hope,  joy,  and  peace,  with  in- 
creasing purity  and  expansion  of  soul,  in  this  world  ;  or 
disappointment,  restlessness,  and  remorse :  and  in  the  world 
to  come,  if  the  Bible  is  true,  a  difference  that  tongue  can- 
not speak  nor  imagination  conceive ;  and  a  difference  that 
endures  and  increases  for  ever. 


DISCOURSE     IX. 


Faith    in    Christ — Regenerating. 

I  John,  v.  1  :   "  Whosoever  believeth  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ, 
is  born  of  God.'''' 

In  our  examination  of  the  subject  of  right  religious  faith, 
we  have  discussed  the  general  topic  of  Faith  in  God ;  and 
it  now  remains,  in  accordance  with  our  original  design,  to 
treat : 

5th.    Of  Faith  in  Christ, 

In  accordance  with  what  has  been  previously  said,  the 
term  "  faith  in  Christ  "  denotes  faith  in  some  truth  or 
truths  concerning  Him.  It  is  more  commonly  used,  indeed, 
with  reference  to  some  particular  truth,  or  asserted  truth : 
for  example,  that  He  procures  and  bestows  the  pardon  of 
my  sins.  But  when  used  in  a  general  and  comprehensive 
sense,  it  properly  denotes  faith  in  the  truthfulness  and 
Divine  authority  of  all  that  Christ-  taught,  whether  con- 
cerning God,  or  Himself,  or  the  soul  of  man ;  or,  in  sim- 
pler form,  Faith  in  Christ  is  faith  in  all  the  teachings  of 
Christ. 

This,  indeed,  is  the  only  proper  significance  of  the  term, 
except  when  the  circumstances  of  its  use  show  the  mean- 
ing to  be  more  restricted.  No  man  has  faith  in  Christ,  in 
the  full  and  worthy  sense  of  the  term,  who  has  not  faith 
in  all  that  he  hears  and  sees  Christ  to  teach. 

Now,  if  I  understand  aright  those  teachings,  it  will  be 

8 


154  DISCOURSES. 

found  that  three  distinct  kinds  of  faith  are  involved  in  this 
faith  in  Christ,  which  may  be  called  by  the  names,  Uegen- 
erating,  Justifying,  and  Sanctifying  Faith,  using  these  terms 
in  their  common  significance  among  Christians. 

These  three  kinds  of  faith  in  Christ,  I  propose  to  con- 
sider separately,  showing  the  reality  of  each  in  its  own 
proper  connection.  And,  as  our  present  subject  of  con- 
templation, let  us  notice 

First,  Regenerating  Faith. 

It  is  the  doctrine  of  Paul,  that  "  God  was  in  Christ,  re- 
conciling the  world  unto  Himself."  The  Apostle  held? 
then,  that  men  are  the  enemies  of  God,  and  that  by  Jesus 
Christ  they  are,  in  some  manner,  changed  to  friends.  But 
this  change,  by  which  they  who  were  enemies  become 
friends  of  God,  must  be,  in  some  respect  or  to  some  ex- 
tent, their  own  act ;  and  this  act  must  be  founded,  accord- 
ing to  the  declaration  of  the  Apostle,  upon  something 
which  they  have  seen  or  heard  in  Christ  ;  and  it  must, 
therefore,  be  an  act  of  faith  in  Christ. 

But  it  is  my  present  purpose  to  show,  from  Christ's  own 
words,  that  faith  in  Him  involves  this  charge  :  a  change 
commonly  called,  from  the  language  which  he  used  to 
Nicodemus,  regeneration,  or  the  new  birth.  Christ  taught 
that  when  He  was  "  lifted  up,"  He  would  "  draw  all  men 
to  Him."  And  why  draw  to  Him?  "Come  unto  me, 
all  ye  that  labor,"  He  says.  Why  %  "  And  I  will  give 
you  rest."  "  If  any  man  thirst,"  he  says  again,  "  let  him 
come  unto  me  and  drink."  "  He  that  believeth  in  me,  out 
of  his  belly  (bosom,  heart,)  shall  flow  rivers  of  living 
water."  "  He  that  cometh  to  me  shall  never  hunger  :  he 
that  believeth  in  me  shall  never  thirst."  "Whosoever 
cometh  to  me,  and  heareth  my  sayings  and  doeth  them,  I 


DISCOURSES.  155 

will  show  you  to  whom  he  is  like :  he  is  like  a  man  who 
built  an  house,  and  digged  deep,  and  laid  the  foundation  on 
a  rock  ;  and  when  the  flood  arose,  the  stream  beat  vehe- 
mently upon  the  house  and  could  not  shake  it,  for  it  was 
founded  upon  a  rock."  To  come  to  Christ,  then,  to  believe 
in  Him,  to  hear  and  do  His  sayings — in  other  words,  to 
act  upon  His  teachings  as  true,  which  is,  to  have  faith  in 
them,  is  to  find  rest  for  the  soul,  to  satisfy  its  thirst,  to 
make  it  overflow  with  the  water  of  life,  and  feed  upon  that 
bread  which  causeth  it  to  hunger  no  more ;  yea,  it  is  to 
build  one's  spiritual  house  upon  a  rock  whereon  the  swell- 
ing and  vehement  floods  can  never  overwhelm  it.  Such  a 
man,  surely,  is  born  again,  if  there  is  such  a  thing :  by 
faith  in  Christ  he  has  become  a  new  creature,  if  any  do. 

But  the  truth  of  our  present  position  may  be  more  par- 
ticularly shoAvn  from  the  words  of  Christ,  and  by  an  appeal 
to  every  man's  knowledge  of  the  human  heart.  It  will  be 
shown,  therefore,  in  the  first  place,  that  Christ  taught  the 
necessity  of  the  new  birth  to  man's  highest  good  ;  from 
which  it  will  follow,  in  the  second  place,  that  faith  in  Plim 
involves  the  act  or  acts  by  which  a  man  becomes  regene- 
rate, if  there  are  any  such  acts ;  and  that  there  are,  will 
likewise  be  shown  by  the  nature  of  Christ's  commands, 
contrasted  with  every  man's  knowledge  of  human  kind. 

(1).  That  Christ  taught  the  necessity  of  the  new  birth  to  man's 
higliest  good. 

He  said  to  Nicodemus,  "Except  a  man  be  born  again, 
he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God."  And  at  another  time, 
to  those  who  were  attending  daily  on  his  instructions,  He 
said,  "  Except  ye  be  converted,  {eav  fii]  orpacpTjTe,  except 
ye  turn  or  change,)  and  become  as  little  children,  ye  enter 
not  the  kingdom  of  Heaven."     "  And  what  shall  it  profit 


156  DISCOURSES. 

a  man,"  he  sajs  to  all,  "if  he  shall  gain  the  whole  world 
and  lose  his  own  soul?"  Christ,  then,  does  teach  man's 
need  of  being  born  again,  in  order  to  his  highest  good. 

But  let  us  now  inquire  what  Christ  means  by  this  new 
birth  ;  or  what,  according  to  His  doctrine,  it  implies.  And 
I  observe,  it  implies  (1st)  a  sense  of  sin  preceding. 

He  spake  a  parable,  of  a  Pharisee  who  congratulated 
himself  before  God  for  his  righteousness,  and  a  publican 
who  "  smote  upon  his  breast,  saying,  '  God  be  merciful  to 
me,  a  sinner.'  "  And  "  this  man,"  He  tells  us,  "  went  down 
to  his  house  justified  rather  than  the  other  ;"  for  it  is  "  he 
that  humbleth  himself,"  that  "shall  be  exalted." 

And  in  the  parable  of  the  prodigal  son.  He  represents  the 
wanderer  returning  to  his  father  and  saying,  "Father,  I 
have  sinned  against  Heaven  and  in  thy  sight,  and  am  no 
more  worthy  to  be  called  thy  son." 

But  again,  the  new  hirth  implies  repentance  from  sin.  The 
burden  of  Christ's  preaching,  we  are  told,  was,  "  Repent : 
for  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  is  at  hand."  The  new 
hirth  was  the  necessary  preparation  for  that  Kingdom,  as  He 
declared  to  Nicodemus  ;  but  here  kve  are  told  that  men 
must  repent,  to  be  ready  for  it :  so  that  either  they  are 
identical,  or  one  must  be  included  in  the  other.  And  when 
men  told  Him  of  the  Galileans,  "  whose  blood  Pilate  had 
mingled  with  their  sacrifices,"  He  answered,  "  Except  ye 
repent,  ye,  likewise,  shall  all  perish." 

(3d),  The  new  hirth  implies  tliat  they  who  have  expe- 
rienced it  live  in  obedience  to  God.  "  For,"  says  the  Lord 
Jesus,  "not  every  one  that  saith  unto  me.  Lord,  Lord, 
shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  Heaven,  but  he  that  doeth 
the  will  of  my  Father  who  is  in  Heaven."  That  new  birth, 
therefore,   which    prepares   the    soul  for    that   Kingdom, 


DISCOURSES.  157 

brings  after  it  obedience  to  God ;  and  must,  therefore,  itself 
be  the  beginning  of  that  obedience.  And  what  is  implied, 
according  to  the  teachings  of  Christ,  in  obedience  to  Godl 

We  answer,  (first)  a  new  state  of  spiritual  apprehension. 
Pie  represents  men  as  walking  in  darkness,  and  stumbling 
over  their  own  members  into  perdition.  But  "  if  any  man 
will  do  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  me,"  He  says,  "he  shall 
know  of  my  doctrine:"  his  spiritual  understanding  shall 
be  renovated  and  quickened,  so  that  he  shall  perceive  the 
Divinity  that  speaks  in  me,  and  shall  know  in  whom  he 
has  believed. 

It  implies  (secondly)  a  new  state  of  the  affections.  The 
first  and  great  commandment  of  God,  according  to  the 
teaching  of  Christ,  is,  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  all  thy  heart ;  and  the  second  is  like  unto  it :  Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself  That  obedience,  then, 
which  is  implied  in  the  new  birth  of  which  Christ  speaks, 
embraces  a  supreme  and  controlling  love  to  God,  and  a  love 
to  all  the  human  family,  which  makes  their  interests  as  sa- 
cred as  one's  own. 

It  implies,  therefore,  (thirdly)  a  new  mode  of  treating 
the  Divine  instructions.  "  He  that  is  of  God,"  says 
Christ,  "heareth  God's  words."  To  hear  God's  words,  is 
to  have  the  ears  open  to  receive,  and  the  heart  ready  to 
obey  them.  It  does  not  allow  that  a  man  should  live  in 
forgetfulness  of  his  Creator,  hearkening  only  to  the  per- 
suasive voices  of  earthly  pleasures  and  enticements  ;  it  im- 
plies the  disposition  continually  to  seek  wisdom  of  Him 
that  "  givcth  to  all  men  liberally  and  upbraideth  not." 

(Finally),  Obedience  to  God  implies  a  different  fruit  of 
the  life,  from  that  which  was  before  yielded  by  disobe- 
dience.   Of  one  in  that  former  state,  Christ  says  that  "  he 


158  DISCOURSES. 

layed  up  treasures  for  himself  and  was  not  rich  toward 
Grod  ;"  and  he  declares  of  all  men,  that  "  by  their  fruits  ye 
shall  know  them.  "A  good  man,  out  of  the  good  treasure 
of  the  heart  bringeth  forth  good  things,  and  an  evil  man, 
out  of  evil  treasure,  bringeth  forth  evil  things." 

But  we  come  now  to  observe  (2)  that  faith  in  Christ,  in- 
volves the  act  or  acts  hj  which  man  becomes  a  new  creature. 

To  have  faith  in  Him,  is,  as  we  have  seen,  to  act  on  the 
truth  of  all  his  teachings.  But  one  of  His  doctrines  has 
been  shown  to  be,  that  the  new  birth  is  essential  to  man's 
highest  good.  And  this  is  what  every  man  seeks.  Every 
man's  life  is  a  life  of  faith  in  some  proposition,  whether 
formally  stated  or  not,  which  claims  as  its  object  the  high- 
est good.  The  ambitious  soldier  acts  on  the  proposition 
that  honor  is  the  greatest  good;  the  covetous  man,  that 
money ;  the  debauchee,  i\i2ii pleasure  is  the  greatest  good ;  and 
their  lives  are  lives  of  faith  in  these  propositions.  And,  in 
like  manner,  he  who  has  faith  in  Christ  is  one  who  acts  on 
Christ's  proposition,  that  to  be  renewed  in  heart  is  essential 
to  man's  highest  good ;  and  he  is  one,  therefore,  who  per- 
forms  the  act  or  acts  by  which  he  becomes  regenerate,  if 
any  such  acts  there  are. 

That  there  are  such  acts  will  be  seen  as  we  evolve  now 
more  particularly  from  the  nature  of  the  new  .birth  the 
great  truth  now  insisted  on,  that  this  change  is  involved 
in  faith  in  Him. 

Repentance  from  sin,  and  beginning  obedience  to  God, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  constitute  this  change.  And 
Christ  has  declared  that  except  men  repent  they  shall  all 
perish,  and  that  he  only  who  doeth  the  will  of  His  Father 
shall  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

To  have  faith  in  Christ  is  to  act  on  his  teachin<]js  as  true  ; 


•DISCOURSES.  159 

and  to  act  on  these  teachings  is  to  repent  and  form  the 
purpose  of  obedience.  Faitli  in  Him,  then,  involves  re- 
pentance and  beginning  obedience ;  that  is,  it  involves  the 
change  or  renewal  of  the  heart,  which  Christ  has  called 
the  new  birth. 

It  is  in  accordance  with  what  has  now  been  said,  and  is 
explained  by  it,  that  we  find  so  often  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, the  word  "  believed"  used  as  nearly  equivalent  to  the 
term  "repented."  Thus  it  is  said  that  when  some  who 
were  scattered  abroad  upon  the  persecution  which  arose 
about  Stephen,  preached  the  Lord  Jesus  at  Antioch,  "  a 
great  number  '  believed,'  and  turned  to  the  Lord ;"  and 
when  Paul  and  Barnabas  preached  in  Iconium,  it  is  said 
that  '•  a  great  multitude,  both  of  the  Jews  and  also  of  the 
Greeks,  believed ;"  and  in  Corinth,  at  the  preaching  of 
Paul,  "many  of  the  Corinthians,  hearing,  believed  and  were 
baptized ;"  and  so  in  many  other  places.  In  these  pas- 
sages, the  word  "believed"  plainly  includes  the  idea  of  re- 
pe.itance;  as  we  have  seen  that  faith,  in  its  full  import, 
always  does. 

I  wish  now  to  put  it  to  all  my  readers,  of  whatever  sen- 
timents they  may  be,  whether  believers  in  the  Divine  origin 
of  Christianity  or  not.  I  wish  to  put  it  to  the  consciousness 
of  every  one,  whether  true  faith  in  Christ  does  not  involve 
so  great  a  change  from  the  common  and  natural  character 
of  man,  that  it  may  be  fitly  said  of  him  who  exercises  it, 
if  such  an  one  there  is,  "he  is  a  new  creatm'e,"  he  is 
"  born  again." 

This  faith  consists,  as  we  have  seen,  in  acting  on  Christ's 
teachings  a?  true.  But  he  has  taught  that  salvation  and 
true  happiness,  which  all  desire,  are  to  be  found  only  in 
obedience  to  the  Divine  commands,  which,  he  declares,  are 


160  DISCOURSES.- 

such  as  these  : — Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all 
thy  heart,  might,  mind,  soul,  and  strength  ;  whatsoever  ye 
Tv^ould  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them ; 
resist  not  evil,  but  whosoever  shall  smite  thee  on  thy  right 
cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other  also  ;  love  your  enemies,  bless 
them  that  curse  you,  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you,  and 
pray  for  them  which  despitefully  use  you  and  persecute 
you ;  lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures  upon  earth,  but 
lay  up  for  yourselves  treasures  in  heaven ;  be  not  anxious 
for  your  life,  what  ye  shall  eat  or  what  ye  shall  drink  ;  nor 
yet  for  your  body,  what  ye  shall  put  on  ;  seek  first  the 
Kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteousness,  and  all  these  things 
shall  be  added  unto  you. 

Is  not  the  man  who  shall  obey  these  commandments, 
compared  with  the  general  character  of  mankind,  is  he  not 
one  "  born  again  ?"  is  he  not  "  a  new  creature  "?"  I  put  it 
to  your  own  conscience  ;  and  I  know  that  that  conscience 
will  sustain  the  w^ords  of  Christ  as  fitly  spoken  ;  and  you 
will  say,  in  the  words  of  his  Apostle,  "  if  any  man  be  in 
Christ,  he  is  a  new  creation." 

But  again,  let  me  urge  upon  my  hearers  the  truth,  that 
no  man  believes  in  Christ  who  is  not  renewed. 

I  will  not  assert  that  a  man  must  assent  to  this  or  that 
theological  dogma  to  be  a  believer  in  Jesus.  IMen  may 
perhaps  differ  much  about  many  doctrinal  propositions  with- 
out knowing,  and  therefore  without  virtual  disobedience 
to  the  will  of  God  ;  but  practical  righteousness  and  piety 
is  too  plain  a  matter  ;  they  cannot  but  understand  here. 

To  love  your  enemies ;  to  do  good  to  them  that  hate 
you  ;  to  seek  first  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteous- 
ness ;  to  obey  all  the  moral  precepts  of  Christ,  and  thus  to 
be  a  new  creature — this  it  is  to  have  faith  in  Him ;  and 
without  this  obedience  and  the  change  of  heart  which  it 


DISCOURSES.  161 

involves,  in  some  good  degree,  you  have  notjaith  in  Him  I 
Your  faith  is  only  in  proportion  to  your  obedience  ;  only 
in  proportion  to  the  newness  of  your  heart  and  life.  You 
may  admire  the  character  of  Christ,  and  the  utterances  of 
his  lips.  Your  understanding  may  assent  to  the  reasona- 
bleness of  all  his  claims,  as  you  interpret  them,  and  to  the 
Divine  Authority  of  His  words.  Nay,  you  may  profess 
your  belief  in  the  highest  and  the  truest  interpretation  that 
is  ever  put  upon  his  language.  But  if  you  obey  not  His 
Divine  commandments,  and  if  you  are  not  thus  renewed  in 
heart,  you  have  not  a  living,  a  true  faith  in  Him  ! 

There  are  many  all  over  this  Christian  land,  and  there 
are  not  a  few,  perhaps,  in  this  congregation,  who  do  as- 
sent at  times,  with  their  understanding,  to  the  teachings  of 
Christ ;  they  have  been  educated,  thus  far,  to  believe  in 
Him — but  they  do  not  begin  heartily  to  act  upon  them  as 
true.  If  they  would  do  this,  they  would  be  believers  ;  for 
obedience  is  all  they  lack  to  faith.  They  need  no  more 
convincing — no  more  enlightening — they  need  only  to  be 
persuaded  to  obey  ;  then  would  they  have  Jaith,  practical 
faith.  And  until  they  do  this  they  will  live  with  all  the 
guilt  of  unbelief  upon  them. 

You,  of  whom  I  am  speaking,  how  long  will  you  dis- 
obey "?  Plow  long  will  you  refuse  to  believe  in  Christ? 
How  long  will  you  believe  the  deceitful  promises  of  sin, 
and  turn  your  feet  from  the  way  of  wisdom  ? 

"Come  unto  me,"  he  says,  "  all  ye  that  labor  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  jou  rest."  You  will  not  find 
it  in  the  world.  You  will  not  find  it  in  the  way  of  trans- 
gression. '•  In  the  way  of  righteousness  there  is  life  ;  and 
in  the  pathway  thereof  there  is  no  death."  "  Blessed  are 
they  that  hear  the  word  of  God,  and  keep  it  r 

8* 


DISCOURSE    X. 


Faith  in  Christ — Justifying. 

John  vi.  29  :  "Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them,  this  is  the 
work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  Him  whom  He  hath  sent.^' 

That  there  is  a  faith  in  Christ  which  regenerates  the 
soul,  and  what  it  is,  has  ah-eady  been  a  subject  of  discus- 
sion. This  we  have  termed  regenerating  faith.  In  accord- 
ance with  the  plan  proposed,  we  will  now  consider — 

Second,  That  kind  of  Jaith  in  Christ  which  I  have  called 
Jiistijying  Faith, 

The  word  "justifying  "  I  use  here  in  its  common  accep- 
tation among  evangelical  Christians ;  i.  e.,  to  denote  that 
faith  by  the  exercise  of  which  a  man  receives  the  pardon 
of  his  sins,  or  his  release  from  the  penalty  of  God's  law, 
due  to  his  past  transgressions.  It  is  only  with  the  idea  of 
subjection  to  such  a  penalty,  that  pardon,  or  forgiveness  for 
sin,  can  be  spoken  of.  And  the  faith  wliich  secures  this 
pardon,  I  have  called,  in  accordance  with  a  very  common 
usage,  justifying  faith. 

To  exhibit  the  nature  of  this  faith,  then,  I  would  say :  to 
exercise  justifying  faith  in  Christ,  is  to  act  on  the  siqjposition 
that  God  ivill  forgive  one' s  past  sins,  for  the  sake  of  the  atoning 
sacrifice  which  Christ  offered  on  the  Cross. 

If  any  man  use  the  term  to  denote  anything  else  than 
this,  I  will  not  deny  his  right  to  do  so.  But  I  claim  at 
least  an  equal  right  to  use  it  in  this  sense  ;  and  this  is  the 
use  which  I  shall  make  of  it ;  this  is  what  I  mean  by  it. 


DISCOURSES.  163 

Such  a  faith,  I  next  remark,  is  possible.  It  is  as  possible 
for  a  man  to  act  on  the  supposition  that  God  will  forgive 
his  sins,  for  the  sake  of  Christ's  atoning  blood,  as  it  is  for 
him  to  act  on  the  supposition  that  He  will  forgive  them 
for  any  other  reason  ;  or,  as  possible  as  it  is  to  act  on  the 
supposition  that  his  sins  need  no  forgiveness ;  or,  that  he 
has  no  sins  to  be  forgiven. 

And  Christ  teaches  such  a  proposition.  So,  at  least,  I  un- 
derstand Him.  The  first  passage  in  which  He  seems  to 
teach  it,  is  found  in  the  third  chapter  of  John.  After  tell- 
ing Nicodemus  the  necessity  of  the  new  birth,  and  hearing 
him  express  his  surprise  and  doubt,  Christ  goes  on  to  say : 
Yerily,  we  speak  that  we  do  know  ;  and  you  believe  not. 
You  came  to  me  for  instruction,  acknowledging  me  to  be 
from  Heaven  ;  but  if  you  will  not  believe  the  earthly  part 
of  my  doctrine,  how  will  you  believe  if  I  tell  you  of  the 
heavenly  part  ? 

Now  the  question  arises,  what  is  this  Mavenly  parti 
Christ  is  surely  treating,  through  all  this  passage,  of  what 
is  necessary  to  man's  salvation.  Repentance,  or  the  new 
birth.  He  has  affirmed  to  be  necessary,  on  man's  part, 
(though  He  has  not  affirmed  it  to  be  all  that  is  necessary,) 
and  Nicodemus's  surprise  at  this  He  has  reproved  as  unbe- 
lief of  ra  errtyeta — the  earthly  things  ;  and  He  must  there- 
fore mean  by  ra  enovgdvca,  or  the  heavenly  things,  that  which 
is  necessary,  on  God's  part,  to  man's  salvation,  whatever 
that  may  be — necessary,  too,  when  man  has  already  per- 
formed his  part.  You  come  to  me  for  instruction.  He  says. 
I  tell  you  that  except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  enter 
the  kingdom  of  Heaven.  You  are  amazed  at  this.  But 
this  is  not  all  I  have  to  tell  }  ou  ;  and  if  you  stick  at  this 
part  of  my  doctrine,  the  earthly  things,  how  will  you  believe 
if  I  tell  you  the  rest,  the  hemwily  things  ? 


164  DISCOURSES. 

This  is  what  Christ  says  to  Nicodemus  ;  and  what  can 
be  more  evident  than  that  Christ  meant  to  teach,  that  this 
new  birth,  hard  as  the  doctrine  is,  is  not  all  that  is  neces- 
sary to  salvation  ;  but  when  this  is  done,  something  more  is 
necessary  on  the  part  of  God  ? 

And  now,  after  asserting  that  He  alone  was  qualified  to 
teach  these  truths.  He  goes  on  to  declare  these  "  heavenly 
things :"  "As  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilder- 
ness, even  so  must  the  Son  of  Man  be  lifted ;  that  whoso- 
ever believeth  in  Him  might  not  perish,  but  have  eternal 
life."  Here  is  evidently  asserted  the  necessity  of  His  death 
on  the  Cross,  in  pursuance  of  the  Divine  plan  for  giving 
salvation  to  man.  But  we  have  seen  already  that  this  was 
something  necessary  on  the  part  of  the  Divine  Being,  in  ad- 
dition to  what  was  necessary  on  the  part  of  man.  The 
death  of  Christ,  then,  on  the  Cross,  was  necessary  to  God's 
forgiveness  of  the  penitent.  And  with  this  idea  accords 
the  whole  stamp  of  the  language.  "  Just  as  the  serpent 
was  lifted  up  by  Moses,  that  those  who  had  faith  to  turn 
their  eyes  upon  it  might  be  saved  temporally,  even  so  must 
Christ  be  lifted  up  on  the  Cross,  that  those  who  have  faith 
in  Him  might  be  saved  eternally." 

To  look  to  Christ  in  the  manner  indicated  by  such  a 
comparison,  implies  penitence  as  already  existing  in  the 
mind,  and  seeking  some  method  of  escape  from  wrath.  The 
whole  teaching  of  this  passage,  then,  seems  to  be,  that  pen- 
itence is  necessary ;  yet  it  is  not  enough  for  salvation — 
there  is  no  promise  given  to  penitence — but  that  faith  in 
the  Crucified  One  is  also  necessary ;  and  to  tliis  faith  the 
promise  of  salvation  is  given,  previous  penitence  being  im- 
plied. 

Another  passage,  w  hich  seems  to  teach  the  same  great 


DISCOURSES.  165 

doctrine,  is  found  in  the  twenty-sixth  chapter  of  Matthew. 
Giving  the  cnp  to  his  disciples,  at  the  Last  Supper,  Christ 
said  to  them,  "  This  is  my  blood  of  the  New  Testament, 
which  is  shed  for  many,  for  the  remission  of  sins." 

The  question  here  to  be  determined  is,  Does  the  phrase 
"  remission  of  sins  "  denote  the  putting  away  from  the  soul 
of  its  sinful  character,  or  the  putting  away  from  it  of  the 
penalty  of  sin  ?  That  the  latter  is  its  meaning,  seems  evi- 
dent from  other  Scriptural  usage,  and  from  the  words  of 
Christ  Himself. 

The  second  chapter  of  Acts,  thirty-eighth  verse,  literally 
translated,  reads  thus  :  "  Then  Peter  said  unto  them.  Re- 
pent ye,  and  let  eveiy  one  of  you  be  baptized  in  the  name 
of  Christ,  for  the  remission  of  sins."  Now  repentance  is  the 
putting  away  of  sin  from  the  soul ;  and  this  passage  teaches 
that  repentance  and  baptism  are,  both  together,  the  procur- 
ing cause  of  "  remission  of  sins."  "  Remission  of  sins," 
therefore,  cannot  he  "  the  putting  away  of  sin  from  the  soul." 

But  Christ's  words  also  teach  the  same  thing.  In  His 
last  interview  with  His  disciples,  after  His  resurrection,  He 
told  them  "  that  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  should  be 
preached  in  His  name  among  all  nations." 

Again  I  say,  then,  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  are 
two  things  :  the  one  is  the  putting  away  of  sin  from  the 
soul ;  the  other  is  the  putting  away  or  removal  of  its  pen- 
alty— the  only  other  possible  meaning. 

When  Christ,  therefore,  says,  "  This  is  my  blood,  shed 
for  the  remission  of  sins,"  He  does  not  mean,  shed  to  make 
men  repent ;  but  shed  to  procure  them  pardon.  And  this 
pardon,  as  is  taught  in  the  passage  quoted  from  John,  and 
in  many  other  places,  is  given  to  him  who  believes  in  Jesus. 

And  now  I  remark,  in  the  next  place,  there  is  nothing 


166  DISCOURSES. 

unreasonable,  or  revolting,  in  the  doctrine  just  deduced. 
There  are  m^ny  who  seem  to  think  there  is.  They  say, 
it  is  abhorrent  and  monstrous  to  suppose  that  God  would 
cause  His  innocent  Son  to  suffer,  in  order  to  save  guilty 
men  from  punishment  which  must  otherwise  be  inflicted 
on  them,  for  their  sins.  These  persons  will  admit,  however, 
that  Christ  suffered  in  order  to  turn  men  from  sin ;  and  in 
this  way,  then,  in  order  to  save  them  frooa  the  consequences 
of  sin,  i.  e.,  from  its  natural  consequences.  They,  there- 
fore, and  we,  both  agree  that  Christ  died  to  save  men 
from  the  consequences  of  sin  ;  the  only  difference  between 
us  is,  What  is  the  necessity  ft-om  which  these  consequences 
flow  %  They  say,  it  is  the  nature,  the  necessary  nature  of 
a  moral  being ;  by  virtue  of  which,  sin  must  always  be 
followed  by  suffering.  We  say,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
it  is  the  nature,  the  necessary  nature,  of  a  universe  of 
moral  beings,  which  makes  a  law,  and  therefore  a  penalty, 
necessary  to  its  highest  well-being.* 

Now,  let  the  opponents  of  our  doctrine  tell  us,  if  they 
can,  why  it  is  so  monstrous  that  God  should  cause  His  in- 
nocent Son  to  suffer,  in  order  to  meet  a  necessity  for  man's 

*  To  say  that  the  Divine  law  is  the  norm  of  a  sanctified  happiness,  and  there- 
fore cannot  be  repealed,  as  the  law  of  the  universe,  in  behalf  of  moral  beings 
any  where,  is  one  thing,  and  what  our  author  here  asserts.  To  say  that  the  re- 
demption of  man  was  a  crisis  in  the  moral  history  of  the  universe,  or  was  de- 
signed for  special  effect  upon  the  universe,  is  quite  another  thing,  which  our 
author  denied.  In  his  notes  on  the  Atonement,  he  says  :  "I  must  repudiate,  as 
Dr.  Bushnell  does,  the  idea  of  Christ's  atonement  being  designed  for  effect  upon 
the  subjects  of  God's  government  in  other  worlds;  this  being  not  a  Scripture 
doctrine,  but  merel/  a  philosophy  of  the  atonement,  and  being  contrary  to  all 
analogy  in  the  knOwn  relations  of  this  world  to  others.  I  was  never  able 
heartily  to  believe  this  doctrine,  even  when  I  tried."  See  Dr.  B.'s  Christ  in  The- 
ology, pp.  286 — 288.  See  also  Dr.  Chalmers'  respect  accorded  to  the  view  that 
there  may  be  various  redemptive  acts  in  different  parts  of  the  universe,  in  his 
Astronomical  Discourses. —  [Ed. 


DISCOURSES.  167 

salvation,  growing  out  of  the  necessary  nature  of  a  moral 
universe ;  while  it  is  not  at  all  monstrous,  but  very  credible, 
reasonable,  delightful,  and  gracious,  that  God  should  cause* 
His  innocent  Son  to  suffer  to  meet  such  a  necessity  grow- 
ing out  of  the  necessary  nature  of  a  moral  being  !  This  is 
the  difference  between  us,  and  the  only  difference  ;  and  we 
challenge  them  to  show  a  single  good  reason  why  their  doc- 
trine is  less  shocking  than  ours ;  even  when  we  afiirm,  as 
we  do,  that  Christ  endured  the  stroke  that  was  due  to  us 
and  suffered  in  our  stead. 

We  have  seen  now  that  Christ  teaches  the  forgiveness  of 
sins,  by  faith  in  Him,  and  have  vindicated  this  doctrine 
from  the  charge  of  being  shocking  or  unreasonable.  To 
have  this  faith  in  Him,  as  we  have  noticed  also,  is  to  act 
on  the  truth  of  this  his  doctrine.  But  I  wish  to  inquire 
now,  more  particularly,  what  it  is  to  act  on  the  proposition 
that  God  ivill  pardon  our  sins  for  Christ's  sake.  And  I  reply 
simply,  it  is  to  ask  God  for  Christ's  sake  to  forgive  our 
sins,  and  then  to  go  forward  in  the  Christian  life,  rejoicing, 
praising,  and  obeying,  as  though  God  had  actually  revealed 
to  us  individually  that  our  sins  are  forgiven. 

In  other  words,  the  action  in  which  this  faith  consists, 
is  not  so  much  outward  as  inward  action.  It  is  the  de- 
cision to  accept,  and  the  act  of  asking  pardon,  solely  on 
the  ground  of  the  atoning  blood  of  Christ ;  followed  by  a 
turning  of  the  thoughts  away  from  the  threatened  ven- 
geance of  the  law,  to  the  promised  mercy  of  God,  and  a 
determined  reliance  or  resting  of  the  mind  thereupon ;  a 
refusal  any  longer  to  apply  the  language  of  terror  to  one's 
self,  and  a  committal  of  the  soul  to  the  hope  set  before  it. 

Kegenerating  faith,  that  is,  repentance  from  sin,  must 
come  first,  indeed  ;  then  by  justifying  faith,  by  taking  God 


168  DISCOURSES. 

at  His  word,  in  his  oiFer   of   mercy,    the  sinner  is   for- 
given. 

*  To  preach  the  G-ospel,  then,  to  a  sinner  who  has  never 
heard  of  Christ,  and  whose  heart  is  still  bound  in  impeni- 
tence, we  must  tell  him  to  "  repent  and  believe  in  Christ," 
and  he  "  shall  be  saved."  If,  however,  we  should  find  a 
repentant  sinner,  who  had  never  heard  of  Christ,  we  need 
only  tell  him,  "  God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His 
only  Begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should 
not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life !  Wherefore,  *'  believe 
in  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved." 

But  such  are  not  the  circumstances  in  which  we  are 
called  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  this  Christian  land.  And 
one  cause  of  the  difficulty  of  inquirers  among  us,  and  of 
those  who  would  direct  them,  doubtless  is,  that  this  fact  is 
not  enough  considered,  and  their  true  position,  therefore, 
not  understood ;  so  that  a  direction  which  would  be  intel- 
ligible and  correct  for  a  man  just  taught  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity,  is  inapplicable  and  inefficient. 

One  whose  understanding  has  long  been  trained  to  assent 
to  the  doctrine  of  forgiveness,  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  but 
who  is  yet  unreconciled  to  God,  needs  only  to  be  exhorted 
to  repent ;  for  it  is  here  that  his  whole  difficulty  generally 
lies.  If  such  a  man,  however,  has  been  brought  to  true 
repentance,  he  is  ready  to  believe,  if  he  can  see  what  is 
meant  by  it ;  and  if  he  is  in  any  difficulty  in  this  matter, 
the  proper  mode  of  directing  him,  is  simply  to  re-affirm  to 
him  the  great  doctrine^  that  if  he  is  penitent,  God  is  now  ready 
to  forgive  him  for  Chri:  t's  sake,  if  he  will  ask  forgiveness 
solely  in  His  name  ; — and  to  saij  not  a  word  more. 

It  should,  perhaps,  be  remarked  here,  however,  that  bap- 
tism is  generally  understood  by  Christians  to  be  a  proper 


DISCOURSES.  169 

and  needful  expression  of  this  justifying  faith  in  Christ, 
and  its  consummating  act.  In  accordance  with  this,  is  that 
language  of  Peter  already  quoted  :  "  Repent  and  be  bap- 
tized in  the  name  of  Christ,  for  the  remission  of  sins." 

The  great  doctrine  of  "justification  by  faith  in  Christ," 
then,  is  simply  this  ;  that  we  are  forgiven  for  Christ's  sake, 
and  not  for  our  own  works;  and  in  this  way,  therefore, 
we  must  seek  forgiveness ;  i.  e.  we  must  ask  forgiveness  in 
His  name  solely,  and  not  seek  to  obtain  it  by  observances 
of  our  own. 

Justification  hy  the  hlcod  of  Christ,  is  a  more  distinctive 
and  intelligible  expression  for  this  doctrine,  than  "justifi- 
cation by  faith,"  and  one  equally  scriptural.  (See  Rom. 
V.  9;  Eph.  i.  7;  ii.  13;  Col.  i.  14;  Heb.  ix.  14;  x.  19; 
1  John  i.  7  ;  Rev.  i.  5  ;  v.  9  ;  xii.  11.)  If  it  were  more 
used  in  directing  inquirers  they  would  perhaps  better  un- 
derstand the  directions. 

That  this  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith,  or  by  the  blood 
of  Christ,  does  not  exclude  the  necessity  of  repentance  and 
holiness  of  heart  to  salvation,  appears  from  the  very  texts 
by  which  the  doctrine  itself  is  taught ;  for  this,  it  will  be 
remembered,  was  only  God's  part  of  the  great  work  of  pre- 
paring for  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven ;  while  man's  part  or 
the  new  birth,  was  first  insisted  on.  And  the  same  truth 
is  taught  in  other  passages.  "  Except  ye  repent,^'  says 
Christ,  ye,  likewise,  shall  all  perish."  '•  Forgive,  and  ye 
shall  be  forgiven."  And  "  by  works  a  man  is  justified,"  says 
the  Apostle  James,  "  and  not  by  faith  only."  These  show 
that  with  justifying  faith,  obedience  is  also  necessary  to  jus- 
tification. That  is  to  say,  justification  is  pardon  for  past  si7iSy 
given  to  the  penitent.  It  is  not  a  substitute  for  present 
holiness.     Obedience  is  always  the  only  ground  of  accept- 


170  DISCOURSES. 

ance  with  God  for  the  present ;  but  past  sins  repented  of, 
i.  e.  forsaken,  may  be  pardoned  for  Christ's  sake.  For 
Christ's  sake,  however,  Grod  will  not  accept  the  man  who 
still  says,  I  will  not  obey.  Speaking  in  general  terms, 
then,  without  the  limitation  of  circumstances,  justification 
is  not  by  faith  only.  He  who  acts  on  the  proposition  that 
without  repentance  he  can  be  saved  for  Christ's  sake,  acts 
upon  a  lie  which  Christ  has  never  uttered.  He  may  call  his 
faith  justifying  faith,  but  it  will  never  justify  him.  The 
professed  Christian  who  lives  a  worldly  and  selfish  life, 
thinking  to  be  saved  by  his  faith,  is  deluded.  Christ  never 
authorized  him  to  believe  in  Him  on  such  terms,  and  He 
will  say  to  him  at  that  day,  "  I  never  knew  you.  Depart 
from  me,  you  that  work  iniquity^ 

Is  justification  by  faith  only?  Yes,  to  the  penitent,  I 
admit  that  it  is.  The  true  language  of  the  Christian  is, 
my  only  hope  is  in  Christ.  He  alone  is  my  justification. 
In  speaking  of  the  Christian,  then,  I  would  say,  justifica- 
tion is  by  faith  only.  But  not  so  with  the  impenitent — 
faith  alone — Christ's  blood  alone,  will  not  save  him.  Re- 
pentance 2i\i^  faith  are  necessary  for  his  justification.* 

The  difficulty  of  the  moralist,  so  called,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  not  a  false  doctrine  of  justification,  but  the  asser- 
tion of  no  need  of  justification.  The  doctrine  of  justifica- 
tion by  faith,  however,  attacks  his  system,  because  it  im- 
plies the  denial  of  his  system  ;  and  to  prove  it,  therefore, 
a  true  doctrine,  is  to  prove  his  system  false. 

A  few  words  now  upon  the  peculiarity  of  influence  of 
this  faith.  It  humbles  the  soul  before  God,  and  increases  the 
seme  of  his  goodness.  To  receive  the  pardon  of  sin  solely  on 
the  ground  of  what  Christ  has  done,  confessing  one's  own 

*  See  note  at  the  end  of  this  Discourse. 


DISCOURSES.  171 

utter  inability  to  satisfy  the  claims  of  righteousness,  knocks 
from  under  the  soul  as  with  one  blow,  all  the  props  of 
pride  and  self-gratulation,  and  compels  it  to  feel  that  it 
can  boast  no  more.  And  by  producing  this  humility  in  the 
soul,  it  lays  the  best  and  the  only  secure  foundation,  on 
which  it  can  build  up  a  truly  elevated  and  perfect  charac- 
ter. Christ  Himself  was  "  meek  and  lowly  in  heart ;"  and 
without  this,  even  He  would  not  have  been  perfect.  And 
no  mere  human  being,  who  must  begin  from  weakness  and 
nothing,  can  ever  build  up  a  lovely  and  symmetrical  char- 
acter, without  first  learning  to  be  "  lowly  in  heart."  Much 
less  can  that  depraved  soul,  in  which  pride  seems  the  primal 
and  foundation  sin,  ever  be  cleansed  and  elevated,  without 
some  means  which  shall  continually  check  this  continually 
swellino;  and  outburstino;  fount  of  evil. 

But  by  increasing  the  sense  of  God's  goodness  also,  this 
faith  increases  joy.  It  may,  indeed,  be  urged  by  some, 
that  it  is  just  as  gracious  in  the  Almighty  to  give  His  Son 
to  suffer  in  order  to  save  men  from  the  natural^  as  it  is  in 
order  to  save  them  from  the  'penally  imposed  consequences 
of  sin.  And  that  it  would  be  just  as  gracious,  if  God 
should  so  do,  I  readily  admit.  If,  however,  there  are  any 
other  means  which  would  answer  the  former  end,  this  fact 
must  lower  our  estimate  of  the  greatness  and  preciousness 
of  that  gift  which  God  gave  us,  even  his  Son  Jesus  Christ ; 
seeing,  in  such  a  case,  this  were  the  less  costly  way  of  re- 
deeming man.  And  that  there  are  no  other  such  means, 
— in  other  words,  that  it  was  necessary  for  Christ  to  die 
in  order  to  bring  men  to  repentance,  can  hardly  be  made 
to  appear  credible  ;  at  least,  to  common  minds.  But  that 
Christ  alone  could  satisfy  the  claims  of  justice  against  the 
sinner,  is  a  more  appreciable  doctrine ;  and  while  it  exalts 


172  DISCOURSES. 

the  law  of  God,  it  does  not  lessen  the  preciousness  of  the 
sacrifice.  And  the  greater  this  preciousness,  the  more  it 
manifests  the  goodness  of  God.  By  this  manifestation  the 
heart  of  the  believer  is  filled  with  joy  and  hope.  He  adores 
the  unspeakable  glory  of  the  Divine  compassion,  and  cries 
to  all  who  have  "  obtained  like  precious  faith,"  with  him, 
"  If  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us  ^  He  that  spared 
not  His  own  Son,  but  delivered  Him  up  for  us  all,  how 
shall  He  not  with  Him  also  freely  give  us  all  things?" 

Note. — We  add  here  a  few  comments  and  other  remarks,  designed  by 
the  author  for  this  discussion.    See  also  Discourse  IV. ,  Note  1. —  [Ed. 

The  subject  of  faith  has  been  mystified,  and  its  relation  to  good 
■works — the  necessity  of  them — has  been  maintained  on  the  ground 
that  ihej  prove  faith.  But  it  should  rather  be  said  that  good  works 
are  faith, — i.  c,  real  good  works,  acts  of  benevolence,  done  out  of  re- 
gard to  Christ. 

We  see  now  the  consistency  of  Christ's  declaration.  Matt.  vii.  24 : 
"  He  that  heareth  my  ivords.  and  doeth  them^''^  &c.,  with  His  doctrine  of 
the  necessity  of  faith.  The  Church,  too,  generally  eschews  and  de- 
nies the  first  teaching,  because  of  their  interpretation  of  the  latter. 
But  surely  the  former  is  as  decided  and  plain  as  the  latter.  But  they 
are  both  true. 

Some  will  answer  that  no  man  doeth  them  (/.  e.,  perfectly) ,  and  so 
justification  by  faith  is  the  only  way  left.  That  is,  they  will  nullify 
those  teachings  of  Christ,  making  it  out  that  they  are  only  a  repeti- 
tion of  the  law,  to  drive  men  to  faith  for  justification.  But  this 
plainly  is  not  Christ's  design,  for  He  says  nothing  of  faith;  and  He 
adds,  "  Whosoever  heareth  these  sayings  of  mine,  and  doeth  them  not^ 
shall  be  likened  unto  a  foolish  man  that  built  his  house  upon  the 
sand," — in  which  He  evidently  speaks  to  all  who  profess  to  be  His 
disciples. 

We  are  then  under  the  law  as  a  rule  of  duty,  but  also  under  grace 
as  a  means  of  salvation.  When  Paul  says,  "  We  are  not  under  the 
law,  but  under  grace,"  he  does  not  contradict  this,  for  he  is  evidently 
aflfirming  only  that  we  are  not  under  the  law  as  a  means  of  justifi- 
cation. 


DISCOURSES.  173 

Saving  faith  in  Christ  consists  in  so  acting  upon  what  Christ 
says  as  to  be  truly  a  good  man — pious  toward  God  and  benevolent 
to  men. 

"  Acting  "  includes  not  merely  outward  acts,  but  inward  aims  and 
affections  of  the  heart. 

It  is  not  for  us  to  say  how  far  short  a  man  may  come  in  walking 
according  to  the  purpose  of  his  faith,  and  yet  be  saved — yet  have 
faith  enough  to  be  fitted  for  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  in  a  sufiferable 
degree,  and  so  be  accepted  of  God. 

There  are  cases,  practically,  which  seem  doubtful  to  us — not  be- 
cause our  principle  or  method  of  judging  is  not  correct,  but  because 
we  cannot  satisfactorily  apply  it  to  the  invisible  soul  of  man  in  every 
case.  But  God  can  apply — and  very  many  cases,  perhaps  most,  we 
are  able  to  judge. 

This  makes  plain  the  Saviour's  declaration,  "  By  their  fruits  ye 
shall  know  them." 

Rom.  X.  13. :  "  For  whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord 
shall  be  saved  ;^^  i.  e.,  whoever  penitently  calls  on  Christ,  or  asks  God 
for  mercy  in  Christ's  name.  Penitence  is  implied  because  the  whole 
tenor  of  God's  commands  requires  it.  To  this  another  condition  is 
customarily  added  by  preachers,  viz.  :  faith.  But  I  do  not  add  this  ; 
— the  text  does  not.  I  say,  with  the  text,  call  on  God  and  thou  shalt 
be  saved.  Do  I  then  renounce  the  necessity  of  faith  ?  By  no  means. 
But  whoever  so  regards  Christ's  words  as  to  call  penitently  on  God, 
has  faith — so  the  context,  "  How  shall  they  call  on  Him  in  whom  they 
have  not  believed?'' 

"  That  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish^^  &c.,  (John  iii. 
16) .  The  faith  required  here  is  not  faith  necessarily  in  any  particu- 
lar doctrine  about  the  relation  of  Christ's  work  to  the  procurement 
of  pardon,  but  faith  in  Christ  Himself — "whosoever  believeth  in 
Him,''^  i.  e.,  whosoever  so  believes  in  Him  as  to  produce  by  His  faith 
that  moral  change  which  is  necessary. 

Now  a  perfect  faith  in  Christ  involves,  I  think,  faith  in  His  truth, 
faith  in  His  atoning  work,  faith  in  His  ability  and  willingness  to 
save.  But  surely  a  perfect  faith  is  no  more  essential  to  salvation 
than  perfect  love.  Love  is  not  perfected  in  all — neither  is  faith ;  but 
if  there  is  faith  enough  to  work  the  necessary  moral  change,  it  must 
save. 


DISCOURSE     XI. 


Faith  in  Christ — Sanctifying. 

John  iv.  29  :     Jestis  answered  and  said  unto  them,  this  is  the 
work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  Him  whom  He  hath  sent. 

Having  in  the  application  of  our  subject  to  faith  in 
Christ  discussed  the  nature  of  Regenerating,  and  of  Justi- 
fying Faith,  we  now  come  to  consider  : — 

Third,  Sanctifying  faith.  That  there  is  such  a  faith, 
and  what  it  is,  will  be  seen,  both  at  the  same  time,  when 
we  apply  the  principles  already  elicited  in  our  past  discus- 
sion, to  a  few  well-known  sayings  of  our  Lord. 

It  will  first  be  remembered,  however,  that  a  true  faith  in 
Christ  was  shown  to  involve  a  renewal  of  the  heart, — a 
radical  change  of  character.  But,  in  all  that  was  said  con- 
cerning that  change,  it  was  not  asserted  that  the  whole 
character  is  by  it,  at  once  made  perfect  in  righteousness. 
It  must,  indeed,  comprehend,  evidently,  a  full  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  claims  of  God  to  the  perfect  love  and  obedi- 
ence of  His  creatures,  and  a  sincere  and  earnest  settling  of 
the  heart  thereto  ;  but  when  a  man  has  done  all  this,  do- 
ing it,  as  is  generally  the  case,  in  an  hour  of  reflection, 
and  to  the  power  of  exalted  motive,  it  does  not,  therefore, 
follow,  that  in  the  hour  of  busy  occupation  with  the 
world,  and  when  the  power  of  temptation  is  let  loose  upon 
him,  he  will  hold  immovably  to  his  righteous  purposes,  and 
never  swerve  at  all  from  the  line  of  perfect  odedience.    It 


DISCOURSES.  175 

does  not  follow,  either  as  a  law  of  mind,  or  as  a  fact  of 
human  experience.  Steadfastness  in  virtue  is  a  result 
only  of  effort  many  times  renewed,  and  long  continued  ;  a 
result,  generally,  of  many  falls  and  risings  again  to  victory. 
The  change  of  character,  when  a  man,  who  has  all  his 
life  been  wholly  devoted  to  his  own  selfish  and  worldly 
interests,  turns  round  and  solemnly  consecrates  all  that  he 
has,  and  himself  also,  to  God,  and  the  interests  of  humanity, 
is  very  great,  and  well  worthy  the  name  of  a  second  birth  ; 
even  though  he  may  sometimes  falter  for  a  moment  from 
his  new-formed  purpose,  and  may  need  many  repentings 
from  unfaithfulness,  and  many  struggles,  and  prayers,  and 
tears,  to  make  that  change  complete.  And  with  a  heart 
like  that  of  man, — so  easily  deceived ;  so  fond  of 
hearkening  to  what  the  Tempter  saith,  and  so  prone  to 
obey  his  voice ;  so  long  habituated  too,  in  most  cases,  to 
sin, — with  such  a  heart  it  has  ever  been,  and,  it  would 
seem,  will  ever  be  the  fact,  that  when  this  great  beginning  of 
a  change  has  taken  place,  there  is  still  need  that  it  should 
go  on  ;  there  is  still  need  of  continued  and  renewed  ac- 
tivity, ere  it  shall  attain  unto  perfection. 

It  is  this  continued  process  of  renewal, — this  growth  in 
love  and  obedience  to  God,  and  this  progressive  subdual  of 
evil  tempers  and  desires, — this  gradual  bringing  of  the 
whole  activities  of  the  man  into  perfect  conformity  with 
that  first  and  solemn  purpose  which  belongs  to  the  new 
birth, — it  is  this  that  is  called,  commonly,  among  the  fol- 
lowers of  Christ,  Sanctiiication.  And  if  there  is  any  faith 
in  Christ  which  operates  in  the  human  heart  to  this  effect, 
which  thus  purifies  the  character  from  the  remains  of  sin, 
redeems  it  from  imperfection,  and  raises  it  more  and  more 
to  the  likeness  of  God,  such  may  well  be  called  a  sancti- 
fying faith. 


176  DISCOURSES. 

That  there  is  such  a  faith  in  Christ,  and  what  it  is,  may  j 
now  be  seen,  as  we  notice  for  a  moment  some  of  His  teach-  | 
ings.  ' 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  involved  in  and  illustrated  by 
those  teachings  already  exhibited  as  requiring  a  change  of 
character,  or  a  new  birth.  Let  us  notice  one  or  two  of 
these. 

"  Not  every  one  that  saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord !  shall 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  Heaven,"  saith  the  Lord  Jesus, 
"  but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father  which  is  in  Heaven." 

Now  if  a  man  forms  the  purpose,  to  begin  with,  of  liv- 
ing all  his  life  in  obedience  to  God, — and  if  it  shall  be 
found,  as  it  will  be,  that  in  many  things  he  falls  short, —  , 
that  his  character  does  not  at  once  prove  wholly  pure, —  ^ 
he  will  yet  perceive,  that  if  Christ's  words  are  true,  it  is 
not  enough  that  he  make  a  profession  and  promise  of  obe- 
dience, that  he  say  unto  Christ,  "  Lord,  Lord  !"  but  that 
he  shall  actually  cari-y  out  his  profession  into  obedience  ; 
that  he  shall,  in  every  deed,"  do  the  will  of  his  Father  which 
is  in  Heaven." 

Faith  in  Christ,  then,  or  acting  upon  the  truthfulness  of 
His  teachings,  implies  not  only  the  profession  and  promise 
of  obedience,  but  the  actual  carrying  out  of  this  promise 
in  the  life.  To  believe  in  Jesus,  is  not  only  to  repent  and 
be  born  again,  but  it  is  to  endeavor  every  day  to  do  the 
will  of  His  heavenly  Father.  Yesterday  to  believe  in 
Jesus,  was  yesterday  to  obey  God  and  be  determined  by 
His  grace  to  obey  Him  to-day  and  to-morrow  ;  and  to-day 
to  believe  in  Jesus,  is  to-day  to  strive  to  obey  God,  and  be 
determined  to  go  on  obeying,  to-morrow  and  for  ever. 

If  Christ  has  taught  that  the  perfect  law  of  love  to  God 
and  man  is  the  law  of  true  blessedness,  then  every  sin  is 


DISCOURSES.  177 

an  act  of  practical  unbelief  in  Christ.  If  He  has  taught 
that  only  he  who  "doeth"  the  will  of  God  is  saved,  then 
only  he  who  Uves  with  the  constant  endeavor  to  do  the 
will  of  God  is  a  constant  believer  in  Him,  unless  he  is  one. 
who  chooses  damnation.  And  such  a  believer  is  one  who 
has  all  that  apprehension  of  spiritual  things,  all  those  holy 
affections  for  God  and  man,  all  that  regard  for  the  Divine 
teachings,  and  all  that  fruit  of  the  life  "  unto  righteousness," 
which  we  have  seen  to  characterize  the  true  servant  of  the 
Most  High. 

And  again,  Christ  says  "Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all 
perish."  *  Unless  a  man  chooses  to  perish,  then,  belief  in 
Christ  implies  repentance.  And  repentance  is  not  the  for- 
saking of  some  sins,  while  others  are  continued  in  ;  it  is  not 
the  forsaking  of  sin  to-day  and  returning  to  it  to-morrow : 
it  is  the  endeavor  to  forsake  all  sin, — the  endeavor  made 
to-day,  and  every  day  continued. 

From  all  these  truths,  then,  it  does  appear  that  a  true 
faith  in  Christ  involves  the  purifying  of  the  soul,  or  that 
process  which  we  have  called  sanctijication. 

But,  in  the  next  place,  there  is  another  truth  involved  in 
faith  in  Christ,  which  was  not  mentioned  in  discussing  the 
subject  of  Regenerating  Faith,  though  it  might  appro- 
priately enough  have  been,  and  which  we  cannot  pass  over 
in  silence  here. 

"  If  any  man  taketh  not  up  his  cross,"  says  the  Lord 
Jesus,  "  and  cometh  after  me,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple."  To 
have  faith  in  Christ,  then,  it  appears,  involves  the  act  of 
following  Him  ;  of  setting  Him  before  the  mind  as  our  ex- 
ample, and  endeavoring  to  walk  in  His  footsteps,  to  pos- 
sess His  spirit,  and  to  be  animated  by  His  holy  principles. 
And  what  like  this  can  redeem  a  sinful  heart  from  its  cor? 


178  DISCOURSES. 

ruption,  and  bring  it  back  to  purity  and  love  ?  What  like 
this  can  sanctify  the  soul  of  man  ?  Who  that  endeavors 
every  day  to  follow  the  spotless  Jesus,  will  live  insensible 
to  sin,  and  quietly  submissive  to  its  power  ?  No  other  in- 
fluence can  be  imagined,  I  fear  not  to  say,  so  powerful  to 
convince  man  of  sin,  and  to  exalt  his  apprehension  of 
God's  perfect  law,  so  mighty  to  subdue  the  heart  to  a 
righteous  humility,  and  encourage  its  efforts  for  obedience, 
as  the  example  of  Christ  to  one  who  endeavors  to  fol- 
low it. 

And  it  is  not  merely  the  power  of  a  perfect  example  to 
enlighten  the  conscience  and  stimulate  the  heart,  which  is 
felt  by  him  who  looks  to  Christ  as  his  leader,  efficacious 
and  inestimable  as  such  an  influence  is  to  sanctify  the  soul ; 
he  sees  continually  more  and  more,  and  as  no  other  man 
can  see,  the  "  beauty  of  holiness  "  and  the  hatefulness  of 
sin  ;  and  thus  learns  to  love  the  one  and  to  loathe  the 
other,  not  for  what  sin  or  holiness  will  bring  to  him,  but 
for  what  they  are  in  their  own  character,  as  related  to  a 
world  of  moral  beings.  Thus  are  awakened  in  his  soul  the 
purest  and  loftiest  of  all  motives  that  can  ever  move  an  in- 
telligent spirit ;  and  thus  the  mightiest  and  most  blessed 
agencies  are  put  to  work  to  cleanse  and  raise  it  up,  till  it 
shall  shine  with  lustre  borrowed  from  the  face  of  God.  To 
see  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  mi-dst  of  the  grossest  insensibility  to 
His  intellectual  and  moral  greatness,  His  purity  and  love ; 
in  the  midst  of  ingratiilade,  bigotry  and  hate,  answering 
His  inconceivable  compassion  and  goodness  with  scorn  and 
unsparing  cruelty  ;  to  see  Him  enduring  all  without  re- 
sentment, except  where  it  touched  the  honor  of  Flis  Father 
or  the  good  of  men  ; — suffering  narrow  and  malicious  souls 
to  exult  over  Him,  to  smite  and  spit  upon  Him  ;  and  press- 


DISCOURSES.  179 

incr  down  the  thunders  of  annihilating;  wrath  that  were 
throbbing  to  burst  forth  beneath  His  feet,  while  sorrow  and 
pity  blended  their  holiest  light  in  H  is  uplifted  face ;  to  see 
Him  enduring  and  suffering  all,  yet  loving  still,  yea,  la- 
boring and  praying  still,  and  bleeding,  too,  for  their  salva- 
tion,— Oh!  to  see  this,  and  to  see  it  as  will  he  who  tries  to 
follow  Jesus,  and  knows  how  hard  it  is, — this  it  is  to  see  the 
*'  beauty  of  holiness,"  the  excellence  of  God's  law  of  love, 
as  mortal  eye  never  saw  it  beside ! 

And  to  see,  on  the  other  hand,  the  true  seeming  of  that 
ingratitude,  those  lying  accusations,  that  presumptuous 
scorn,  that  renderin^j  evil  for  cood,  that  hate  of  all  that  is 
lovely,  that  meanness  and  cruelty  and  proud  hypocrisy 
that  burst,  like  a  burning  wave  from  the  mouth  of  hell, 
upon  the  head  of  the  meek  and  suffering  Saviour, — to  see 
this,  is  to  see  the  hatefulness  of  sin,  as  earth,  and  methinks 
the  regions  of  the  damned,  never  displayed  it  before. 

And  he  who  sees  these  things— who  gazes  upon  them 
day  by  day,  and  finds  them  growing  deeper  in  coloring  and 
more  wonderful  continually,  as  the  earnest  copier  of  Christ 
will  find  them — he,  surely,  is  the  man,  of  all  others,  who 
will  most  be  filled  and  made  alive  with  a  pure  and  purify- 
ing love  of  righteousness,  and  hatred  of  all  iniquity. 

I  repeat,  then,  a  true  faith  in  Christ,  a  sincere  acting 
upon  all  His  teachings,  does  sanctify  the  soul.  There  is, 
therefore,  a  sanctifying  faith  in  Christ ;  and  that  is  not  a 
complete  faith  in  Him  which  does  not  sanctify.  And  it  is 
folly  and  delusion,  let  me  add,  therefore,  for  any  man  who 
professes  to  be  Christ's,  to  expect  to  be  saved  by  faith  in 
Him,  if  he  is  not  becoming  year  by  year  a  holier,  a  better 
man.  For  such  a  man  is  not  a  true  believer.  He  may 
believe  a  part  of  Christ's  teachings,  but  he  does  not  believe 


180  DISCOURSES. 

them  all.  He  does  not  fully  and  truly  believe  in  Christ, 
the  Son  of  God  ;  and  to  him,  as  nruch  as  to  any  other,  is 
the  warning  uttered,  "  he  that  believeth  not  the  Son,  shall 
not  see  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abid  jth  on  him." 

Let  me  point  you  now,  for  a  moment,  to  one  example 
of  true  faith  in  Chri.-t.  It  is  Paul  of  Tarsus.  Gifted  with 
exalted  talents,  and  with  almost  superhuman  energy,  and 
fitted  by  birth  and  education  for  gaining  a  high  place 
among  the  honors  of  his  country,  behold  him  casting  all 
at  the  foot  of  Jesus'  cross  ;  renouncing  worldly  pleasure, 
and  all  splendor  and  ease  of  life  ;  enduring  hardships  and 
distresses  innumerable,  and  toil  beyond  the  seeming  strength 
of  man  ;  burning  with  a  love  unquenchable  and  pure,  that 
led  him  to  spend  and  be  spent  for  others,  and  to  rejoice 
therein,  though  the  more  abundantly  he  loved  them  the 
less  he  was  loved ;  watering  with  his  prayers  and  tears 
the  Church  which  Christ  had  watered  Avith  His  blood ; 
and  giving  himself  wholly,  without  reserve,  with  an  energy 
unparalleled,  and  a  fervor  that  consumed  the  frame  in 
which  it  dwelt,  to  the  cause  of  God  and  righteousnes,  and 
the  salvation  of  souls.  And  what  was  the  secret  of  a  life 
so  pure,  so  Christ-like  in  its  aims  and  its  activities,  so  un- 
changeably and  ardently  benevolent  ^  He  has  told  us  him- 
self. "  I  am  crucified  with  Christ,*'  he  says  ;  "  and  I  live 
no  longer,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me ;  aiid  the  life  which  I  now 
live  in  the  flesh,  I  live  hij  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who 
loved  me  and  gave  himself  for  me." 

Yes,  it  is  faith  in  Christ,  which  is  able  to  change  the 
whole  character  of  man,  raise  him  up  from  the  pit  of  cor- 
ruption into  which  he  had  fallen,  cleanse  his  defiled  gar- 
ments till  the  eye  of  Jehovah  shall  see  no  spot  thereon,  and 
place  him  on  the  mountof  Transfiguration,  from  which, with 


DISCOURSES.  181 

the  celestial  gates  in  view,  he  shall  run  a  shining  course, 
with  the  world  beneath  his  feet,  and  the  wings  of  angels 
springing  from  his  side. 

And  now,  to  you,  and  to  all  the  world,  could  my  voice 
reach  so  far,  would  I  sound  aloud  the  great,  the  blessed 
truth  of  our  text:    behe^e  in  Christ — believe,  and  ye  shall 
be  saved.     "  This  is  the  ivork  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  Him 
whom  He  hath  sent:'     To  believe  in  Him  will  regenerate  the 
soul,  will  justify  it  before  God,  and  cleanse  it  from  all  un- 
ri"-hteousness.     It  is  this  faith,  faith  in  Christ,  which  is 
the  great  redemption   of  the  human  character.     Nothing 
like  it  beside  was  ever  seen,  to  remold,  to  purify  and  ele- 
vate the  mind  of  man.     We  defy  the  world  to  point  to  any 
other  such  source — any  "  other  name  under  Heaven,  given 
among  men,  whereby  we  can  be  saved."     This  is  the  great 
truth  declared  in  the  text.  This  is,  indeed,  the  work  of  God — 
the  work  by  which  you  may  become  acceptable  to  God, 
and  be  made  like  Him — that  you  "  believe  on  Him  whom 
He  hath  sent."      This  is  the  message  of  heavenly  mercy 
to  a  ruined  race,  to  a  dead  and  dying  world :  Believe  in 
Him  whom  God  hath  sent.     Trust  not  to  your  own  un- 
aided powers ;  thousands  have  trusted  and  perished.    Trust 
not  in  any  fellow-man ;  man  has  every  where  trusted  in 
man,  and  the  world  is  not  yet  saved.     None  oi  the  refuges 
which  men  have  sought  out  for  themselves  have  sheltered 
them ;  none  of  the  devices  which  they  have  invented  for 
themselves  have  delivered  them.     The  world  has  tried  long, 
it  has  trusted  in  every  thing  but  Christ,  and  it  is  yet  far 
from  salvation. 

But  they  that  have  believed  in  Jesus  have  been  saved. 
They  have  been  saved  from  corruption,  from  the  power  of 
indwelling  sin ;  they  have  felt  that  they  were  saved  from 


182  DISCOURSES. 

death,  from  the  powers  of  evil,  and  from  the  wrath  to  come  ; 
and  the  world,  that  has  looked  on,  has  never  doubted.  And 
the  voice  of  Jesus  is  yet  sounding  aloud  to  all  that  need, 
*'  come  unto  me  and  be  saved,  all  the  ends  of  the  earth." 
"  This  is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  Him  whom 
He  hath  sent."  Hear  it,  dying  sinner !  Hear  it,  guilty 
and  perishing  soul !  Hear  it,  child  of  sorrow  and  despair ! 
There  is  yet  redemption,  there  is  yet  peace  and  full  salvation 
for  you.  You  can  yet  save  yourself  and  others.  You 
can  yet  work  the  works  of  God,  the  work  by  which  He 
will  forgive  you,  and  you  shall  be  made  like  Him.  Hear, 
and  despise  it  not,  lest  your  last  hope  be  lost,  and  an  escape- 
less  perdition  seize  on  your  soul.  Ruin,  eternal  ruin,  will 
be  yours  if  you  heed  it  not.  It  is  the  last  accent  of  mercy, 
— but  the  sweetest.  It  is  the  last  anchor  of  hope, — but 
the  surest — "TA/s  is  the  work  of  God,  that  you  believe  on  Him 
whom  He  hath  sent." 


DISCOURSE     XII. 


The  Repose  of  Faith.* 
Mark  v.  36  :  "  Only  believe.''^ 

Fro:m  the  country  of  the  G-adarenes,  where  He  had  cast 
out  the  devil  into  the  herd  of  swine,  Jesus  had  now  re- 
turned across  the  sea  of  Galilee  to  Capernaum,  which  lay 
on  its  nortliwestern  shore,  and  which  was  at  this  time,  and 
during,  seemingly,  the  whole  of  His  ministry,  the  place  of 
His  residence. 

While  sitting  at  a  great  feast  in  the  house  of  Matthew, 
surrounded  by  publicans  and  sinners,  there  came  one  of  the 
rulers  of  the  synagogue,  Jairus  by  name,  and  fell  at  His  feet 
beseeching  Him  for  his  little  daughter,  who  lay  at  the  point 
of  death.  As  Jesus  went  with  him,  followed  and  thronged 
by  a  great  multitude,  there  came  messengers  from  the 
ruler's  house,  who  said  to  him  "  thy  daughter  is  dead ;  why 
troublest  thou  the  Master  any  further  ?" 

The  heart  of  Jairus  at  this  news,  no  doubt,  sank  within 
him.  He  had  seen,  probably,  and  had  heard  of  many  mira- 
cles which  Christ  had  done,  by  which  the  sick  had  been 
restored  to  health,  and  the  crippled  to  soundness  of  limb, 
and  those  who  had  been  possessed  of  devils  brought  back 


*  This  Discourse  was  delivered,  Elgin,  March  27, 1853  ;  "  given  me,"  says  MrS., 
"  in  prayer  the  day  previous,  with  great  comfort."  It  was,  of  course,  no  part  of 
his  original  plan  in  discussing  the  nature  of  faith  ;  but  we  insert  it,  with  the 
above  title,  that  it  may  give  to  others  like  comfort,  and  because,  by  the  law  of 
all  life  and  health,  the  highest  work  consists  with  the  truest  repose. 


184  DISCOURSES 

to  reason  ;  but  the  dead  ! — that  they  should  be  recovered 
from  decay,  and  brought  back  to  life,  was  a  thhig  unheard 
of  and  beyond  hope.  Who  does  not  despair,  when  death 
has  once  taken  the  spirit  away  ?  All  the  dread  certainty 
of  its  power,  and  the  hopelessness  of  release  which  the  liis- 
tory  of  the  world  had  taught  him,  now  came  upon  the 
ruler's  heart,  and  caused  it  to  respond  with  despairing  as- 
sent to  the  words  of  his  messengers,  "  Why  troublest  thou 
the  Master  f 

And  yet,  seemingly,  as  he  turned  to  look  again  upon 
Jesus,  some  relieving  thoughts  arose.  "  He  who  has  done 
such  mighty  works  among  us — has  He  not  power  even  yet 
to  help  me  ?"  and  then  began  some  feeble  hope  to  struggle 
with  strong  fears,  and  agitate  his  soul. 

Then  it  was  Jesus  came  to  his  help,  rewarding  the  faith 
with  which  he  had  at  first  approached  Him.  Amid  the 
agitation  of  his  soul,  the  Master  spake,  as  once  after  He 
spake  to  the  waters  of  that  sea  that  then  rolled  in  their 
sight:   "  Be  not  afraid,"  He  said;  "  only  believed 

Oh,  that  we  could  hear,  my  friends,  amid  the  doubts  and 
fears  that  struggle  with  our  feeble  hopes,  as  we  travel  our 
brief  pilgrimage  to  the  grave — Oh,  that  we  could  hear  the 
Master's  voice  saying  to  us  with  energizing  power,  "Be 
not  afraid  !  only  believe !"  This  is,  indeed,  a  voice  which 
Christ  has  spoken  to  us,  with  all  the  sweetness  of  His  life, 
and  all  the  solemnities  of  His  death.  That  we  should  be- 
lieve in  Him,  and  so  in  the  Father  who  sent  Him.  He  has 
reasoned  with  us  by  the  most  moving  arguments,  and  the 
most  solemn,  appeals — the  arguments  of  all  His  kind  and 
wondrous  deeds  and  words,  and  His  whole  life  of  love, 
and  the  appeals  of  His  springing  tears,  and  His  outburst- 
ing  blood  which  was  shed  "  for  us." 


DISCOURSES.  185 

I  would,  therefore,  to-day,  present  to  your  thoughts,  as 
well  as  to  my  own,  amid  our  many  sorrows  and  tribula- 
tions, the  cheering  and  glad  words  of  Christ :  "  only  be- 
lieve." The  great  lack,  my  friends,  of  all  those  who  are 
trying  to  live  righteously  and  godly  "  in  this  present  evil 
world,"  is  faith — faith  in  God,  and  in  His  Son  Christ. 

The  great  reason  why,  if  we  are  the  children  of  God,  we 
are  so  feeble  in  our  obedience  and  love ;  the  reason  why 
we  enjoy  so  little  the  power  of  rehgion  in  our  hearts  ;   the 
reason  why  we  are  so  easily  turned  aside  by  temptations, 
weighed  down  by  care,  and  broken  by  the  sorrows  which 
assail  us  ;  the  reason  why  we  mourn  so  much,  and  rejoice 
so  little,   and  run   so   slowly  in  the  Christians  race,   is, 
that  we  have  not  faith.     If  we  did  but  yield  ourselves  up 
to  a  hearty  belief  of  the  goodness  and  power  of  God,  of 
His  all-directing  Providence  and  His  merciful  and  gracious 
designs  toward  us,  we  could  not  be    so   disturbed,  as  we 
too  often  are,  by  the  sorrows  and  troubles  of  this  life.     If 
we  did  heartily  admit  at  all  times  all  that  Christ  has  taught 
us  by  His  lips,  and  all  that  love  and  care   of  God  which 
His  life  displays  and  proves,  and  if  we  abandoned  ourselves 
to  Him  with  the  surrender   of  a   perfect  faith,  we  should 
never  fail  of  peace  and  strength  and  joy.     And  if  by  such 
a  faith  we  did  but  bringdown  into  our  hearts  "  the  powers 
of  the  world  to  come,"  our  lives    in  this  world  would  be  a 
brighter  display  of  the  value  and  glory  of  the  Gospel,  and 
would  tell  with  a  mightier  effect   upon  the  kingdom  of 
darkness  and  death.      How  morally  beautiful  and  sublime 
was  the  life  of  the  Apostle  Paul !     A  life  of  indefatigable 
energy  and  unceasing  toil  in   doing  good  ;    a  life   of  entire 
self-denial,  as  regards  all  worldly  ends  ;    a  life  of  disinter- 
ested goodness,   "spending  and  being  spent"   for  others, 


186  DISCOURSES. 

though  the  more  abundantly  he  loved  them,  the  less  he 
was  loved  ;  a*life  of  great  endurance  of  sufferings,  both 
natural  and  by  men  inflicted  ;  a  life  of  moral  splendor  and 
transcendent  power,  telling  with  immeasurable  effect  upon 
the  destiny  of  men  and  nations,  and  laying  through  many 
lands  the  broad  foundations  of  that  mighty  temple,  which 
is  rising,  and  yet  to  rise,  till  the  top-stone  shall  be  laid  in 
heavenly  glory,  amid  the  sound  of  many  voices  hymning 
the  praises  of  redeeming  love.  And  what  was  the  secret 
of  that  transcendent  life?  It  was  not  inspiration — it  was 
not  miraculous  power.  No,  it  was  simple  Christian  faith ; 
a  faith  working  by  love ;  and  such  as  any  man  may  ex- 
ercise who  will.  The  Apostle  has  himself  taught  us  the 
whole  truth  concerning  it.  "  The  life  which  I  now  live," 
says  he,  "  I  live  by  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,"  i.  e.  by  faith 
in  the  Son  of  God,  "  who  loved  me  and  gave  Himself  for 
me." 

Yes,  the  life  of  Paul  was  a  life  founded  on  a  true  and 
hearty  faith  in  the  Son  of  God,  and  such  a  life,  in  its  grand 
essentials,  as  such  a  faith  must  ever  produce. 

And  with  respect  to  the  power  of  a  true  faith  to  an- 
imate the  soul  to  great  deeds,  and  to  sustain  it  amid  great 
conflicts,  in  the  language  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
"  What  shall  I  more  say?  For  the  time  would  fail  me," 
going  back  to  the  history  of  the  ancient  Church,  *'  to  tell  of 
Gedeon,  and  of  Barak,  and  of  Samson,  and  of  Jephthae, 
of  David  also,  and  Samuel,  and  the  prophets ;  who  through 
faith  subdued  kingdoms,  wrought  righteousness,  obtained 
promises,  stopped  the  mouths  of  lions,  quenched  the  violence 
of  fire,  escaped  the  edge  of  the  sword,  out  of  weakness 
were  made  strong,  waxed  valiant  in  fight,  turned  to  flight 
the    armies    of    the    ahens."       Nor    has    the    Church, 


DISCOURSES.  187 

since  Apostolic  days,  been  wanting  in  examples  of  equal 
courage,  and  endurance,  and  moral  power,  produced  by 
this  same  principle.  It  was  faith  in  God  that  sustained 
Luther,  as  he  trod  his  dangerous  way  to  the  city  of  Worms, 
and  as  he  stood  there  before  that  august  council  of  kino-s. 
princes,  and  prelates,  that  had  summoned  him  to  trial,  and 
proclaimed  in  their  hostile  ears  his  invincible  determina- 
tion to  hold  fast  the  truth  of  God.*  It  was  faith  in 
God  that  animated  and  upheld  the  illustrious  company  of 
martyrs,  who,  in  the  the  days  of  the  Eighth  Henry,  and 
of  Mary,  nurtured  the  soil  of  England  with  their  blood  and 
ashes.  It  is  faith  in  God,  which  in  later  times  has  nerved  the 
converts  of  heathen  Madagascar  to  suffer  death  rather  than 
deny  their  Lord  ;  and  which,  even  while  I  am  now  speak- 
ing, sustains  the  soul  of  that  naturally  feeble  woman,  who, 
in  a  prison  of  Tuscany,  bids  defiance  to  all  the  powers  of 
Romish  cruelty  and  superstition,  to  turn  her  from  the 
truth. 

And  if  faith  can  work  these  great  results,  can  it  not  se- 
cure those  which  are  less '?  Can  it  not  sustain  us  in  our 
inferior  trials,  and  nerve  us  to  our  less  difficult  tasks  ? 
What  more,  in  fact,  is  wanting  to  the  vigor  of  our  spiritual 
life,  and  to  the  constancy  of  our  peace  and  joy,  than  that 
we  should  believe  truly  in  God? 
.    It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  all   of  us  who  love  Christ 

*  Luther's  illustration  of  unbelief  will  here  recur  to  the  minds  of  many :  "  I 
lately  saw  two  miracles.  First,  as  I  looked  out  at  the  window,  I  saw  the  stars  in 
the  heavens,  and  the  whole  fair  dome  of  God  ;  yet  did  I  see  no  pillars  on  which 
the  Master  had  placed  this  dome.  Nevertheless,  the  heavens  fell  not,  and  the 
dome  stands  yet  fast.  Now  there  are  some  that  seek  for  such  pillars.  They 
would  fain  lay  hold  of  and  feel  them.  And  because  they  can  not  do  this,  they 
struggle  and  tremble  as  though  the  heaven  must  certainly  fall,  for  no  other  rea- 
son than  because  they  cannot  seize  or  see  the  pillars ;  could  they  lay  hold  of 
these,  the  heaven  would  stand  firm." 


188  DISCOURSES. 

have  difficulties  to  meet,  and  trials  to  bear.  Though  we 
are  not  martyrs  by  fire,  and  at  the  cost  of  life,  we  may 
sometimes  be  called  to  be  martyrs  by  reproach,  and  at  the 
cost  of  friends  we  love,  and  objects  we  hold  dear  ;  we  have 
enemies  within,  which  are  worse  than  those  without,  in 
our  own  corrupt  propensities,  such  as  are  hard  to  over- 
come ;  we  have  weariness  of  the  flesh  to  endure,  and  clog- 
ging and  feebleness  of  spirit ;  we  have  wounded  affections, 
and  disappointed  hopes  to  bear  ;  we  have  corrupt  examples 
to  strive  against,  and  superstitious  and  wicked  prejudices  in 
ourselves  and  others,  to  contend  with ;  we  have  error  to 
ccmbat,  and  truth  to  maintain  ;  and  even  among  those  we 
love — aye,  and  in  our  own  hearts,  also,  we  have  failures  to 
endure,  it  may  be,  and  reproach  and  suspicion  to  suffer  un- 
justly ;  we  have  griefs  for  souls  that  are  in  sin,  for  the 
wrongs  and  woes  of  many,  and  for  the  cause  we  love ;  we 
have  anxieties  and  cares,  vexations,  disturbances,  and  sor- 
rows without  name  or  number,  to  meet  and  to  sustain ;  for 
"man  is  born  to  trouble,  as  the  sparks  fly  upward." 

But  God  has  set  before  us  the  end  of  all  our  griefs,  a 
bright  and  happy  home ;  where  having  once  entered,  we 
shall  "  go  no  more  out."  He  has  made  that  home  a  place 
fit  for  His  own  indwelling  ;  and  therefore  full  of  glory  and 
of  joy.  For  "  behold  !  the  tabernacle  of  God  shall  be  with 
men,  and  He  will  dwell  with  them  and  they  shall  be  His 
people,  and  God  Himself  with  them  shall  be  their  God. 
And  He  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes ;  and 
theie  shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow  nor  crying, 
neither  shall  thei-e  be  any  more  pain  ;  for  the  former  things 
are  j)assed  away.'''  Oh,  it  is  a  city  that  hath  "  no  need  of 
the  sun,  neither  of  the  moon,  to  shine  in  it ;  for  the  glory 
of    God   hath   illumined  it,  and    the  Lamb  is  the  light 


DISCOURSES.  189 

thereof."  But  not  only  has  God  set  before  us  such  an  eter- 
nal home ;  Pie  has  also  taught  us  that  while  we  tarry  in 
this  preparatory  state,  He  is  full  of  compassion  for  us,  and 
looks  down  on  us  with  unchanging  love.  Yes,  even  when 
you  have  wandered.  Christian,  far  from  Him,  and  are 
thoughtless  of  His  goodness,  and  careless  of  His  will.  He 
does  not  cease  to  love,  l)ut  watches  over  you  by  night  and 
surrounds  you  with  His  mercies  by  day,  and  strives  to  win 
you  back.  Yea,  even  then,  when  you  care  not  for  Him, 
He  has  designs  of  unspeakable  goodness  for  you,  and  is  pre- 
paring a  shining  mansion  to  which  he  means  to  win  you,  if 
His  grace  can  do  it.  And  every  step  you  take  in  this  world 
He  watches  over,  and  if  you  are  trying  to  be  faithful.  He 
causes  it  to  bring  you  nearer  home.  Every  wind  of  trou- 
ble and  every  storm  of  sorrow  that  beats  upon  you,  He 
holds  in  His  hand,  and  suffers  it  not  to  rage  to  your  harm, 
but  rather  makes  it  a  means  of  greater  gain  at  last,  if  you 
love  Him.  He  pities  all  your  griefs,  as  a  father  pitieth  his 
children  ;  He  cares  for  all  your  interests,  and  concerns 
Himself  continually  in  your  behalf ;  He  combines  His  cre- 
ative and  providential  goodness  with  the  riches  of  His  grace, 
to  bless  you  ;  He  denies  you  nothing  that  will  be  for  your 
good.  Nay  !  not  even  the  Son  of  His  love.  This  is  the 
love  of  God  to  you  and  me,  Christian.  All  our  interests 
are  safer  in  His  hands  than  they  could  be  in  our  own,  for 
He  is  hindered  by  no  lack  of  wisdom,  and  perverted  by  no 
selfishness,  and  changed  by  no  fickleness,  and  fettered  by 
no  lack  of  power.  Wisdom,  that  discerneth  all  things,  from 
the  beginning  to  the  end  ;  might,  that  can  accomplish  all 
His  will ;  understanding,  that  can  devise  most  glorious 
things  with  which  to  bless  His  creatures  ;  benevolent  good- 
ness, that  has  no  bounds  towards  us  but  our  capacity  to  re- 


190  DISCOURSES. 

ceive, — these  are  the  qualities  of  God  our  Father,  and  the 
pledges  of  our  safety  and  our  unmeasurable  blessedness. 
It  is  not  merely  what  God  can  do,  of  which  He  assures  us, 
but  that  He  means  to  do  and  imll  do  for  us  more  than  we 
can  ask  or  think. 

AVhat,  then,  I  ask,  is  wanting  to  our  comfort  and  hap- 
piness in  this  world,  but  that  we  should  believe  f  What 
else  is  wanting  that  we  should  have  quietness  under  every 
pelting  storm,  hope  beneath  every  cloud,  and  rapture  on 
every  wave  of  life's  tossing  sea — what  else,  but  that  we 
should  open  our  hearts  to  the  love  of  God,  and  put  our 
confidence  in  Him  % 

How  great  a  proof  of  His  concern  for  us,  and  His  desire 
to  do  us  good,  has  He  given  us  in  Christ  His  Son  !  It  is 
a  proof  higher  than  we  could  have  imagined  to  ask,  and 
the  greatest,  it  would  seem,  that  Infinite  Wisdom  could  de- 
vise. And  now  in  all  our  trials  He  says  to  us,  "  only  be- 
lieve." When  we  are  troubled  with  doubts  and  oppressed 
with  fears,  He  bids  us  "  only  believe."  When  sorrows  as- 
sail us  and  pains  afflict,  He  exhorts  us,  "  only  believe." 
When  the  burden  of  cares  presses  heavily,  and  we  are 
anxious  for  the  morrow.  His  word  repeats,  "  only  believe.* 
When  friends  are  taken  from  our  sight,  or  when  they  turn 
to  foes.  He  instructs  us,  saying,  "  only  believe."  When 
sounds  of  threatening  are  borne  upon  our  ears,  His  still 
small  voice  is  saying,  above  the  din,  "  only  believe."  When 
we  walk  the  thorny  path  of  obscurity  and  want,  he  utters 
above  our  heads  His  blest  encouragement,  "  only  believe." 
When  dangers  beset  our  way  and  we  tremble  with  fear, 
He  puts  into  our  hands  His  talisman  of  peace,  "  only  be- 
lieve." When  difficulties  oppose  us  and  we  weary  of  our 
toil,  He  gently  commands  us,  "  only  believe."    When  fond 


DISCOURSES.  191 

hopes  are  extinguished,  and  night  and  darkness  settle  down 
around  us,  He  writes  upon  the  heavens  with  stars,  "only 
believe."  When  griefs  are  many  and  friends  are  few ;  when 
our  life-plans  are  crossed,  and  our  toils  are  brought  to 
naught,  and  our  fainting  hearts  are  ready  to  sink,  God 
lives,  and  wliispers  still,  "  only  believe."  "  Only  believe," 
and  you  shall  have  quietness  of  soul,  and  sorrow  shall  not 
harm  you,  nor  pains  destroy.  "  Only  believe,"  and  you 
shall  cast  your  cares  on  Me,  and  take  no  thought  for  the 
morrow.  *'  Only  believe,"  for  I  am  your  Saviour  and  your 
everlasting  friend,  and  no  evil  shall  have  power  to  harm 
you.  "  Only  believe,"  and  Mine  eye  shall  be  upon  you, 
and  I  will  bring  you  into  glory.  "  Only  believe,"  and 
though  "a  thousand  fall  at  thy  side,  and  ten  thousand  at 
thy  right  hand,  it  shall  not  come  nigh  thee."  "  Only  be- 
lieve," and  you  shall  come  oflf  conquerors  through  Him 
who  hath  loved  you.  "  Only  believe,"  and  you  shall  ascend 
where  hope  is  lost  in  fruition,  and  there  is  no  more  night, 
and  where  sorrow  and  sighing  are  done  away.  Let  the 
world  assail  you — "  only  believe."  Let  hopes  disappoint 
you — "  only  believe."  Let  friends  depart  from  you — 
"  only  believe."  Let  cares  press  upon  you — "  only  be- 
lieve." Let  sorrows  smite  you — "only  believe."  "Only 
believe,"  and  your  walk  upon  earth  shall  be  in  peace,  and 
in  increasing  strength  and  gladness,  and  its  end  shall  be 
eternal  glory  and  immeasurable  bliss.  Believe  in  the 
mercy  and  goodness  of  God  through  Christ,  and  in  His 
providential  care. 

And  this,  my  friends,  is  the  grand  medicine  of  life. 
^Yhen  men  are  sick,  how  they  will  resort  to  this  remedy 
and  to  that,  to  heal  them  of  their  ailing.  And  so  in  the 
soul's  sickness  and   cravings,  how  they  will  run  to   one 


192  DISCOUB.se  S. 

thing  and  another,  to  satisfy  their  longings,  and  make  them 
blest.  Yea,  how  they  run  and  search  on  every  side  in  vain, 
and  pass  by  the  simple  and  all-potent  prescription  which 
God  has  provided  for  every  human  sorrow  and  want — the 
simple  remedy,  "  only  believe." 

And  how  ivicJced  not  to  believe,  my  friends  !  It  is  refus- 
ing to  admit  the  goodness  of  our  God  !  And  how  happy  it 
is  reaZZz/ to  believe  !  "He  that  believeth,  shall  not  make 
haste."  He  can  fulfill  the  exhortation  of  the  Apostle  who 
says,  "  Let  your  conversation  (or  conduct)  be  without  cov- 
etousness,  and  be  content  with  such  things  as  ye  have  ;  for 
He  hath  said,  I  will  never  leave  thee,  nor  forsake  thee.  So 
that  we  may  both  say,  the  Lord  is  my  helper,  and  I  will 
not  fear  what  man  can  do  unto  me." 

Oh,  my  hearer !  if  you  would  be  peaceful  in  life,  and 
happy  in  death,  "  only  believe." 


DISCOURSE     XIII. 


Repentance. 

Acts  xx.  21:  '^Testifying  both  to  the  Jews  and  also  to  the 
Greeks,  repentance  toward  God  and  faith  toward  our  Lord 
Jesus  ChristJ^ 

This  was  what  Paul  declared  to  the  Ephesian  elders 
he  had  done  during  the  two  years  he  had  remained  at 
Ephesus. 

During  the  same  period  of  time,  while  laboring  in  this 
place,  I  have  endeavored,  in  my  humble  measure,  to  testify 
to  this  congregation  the  same  great  truths. 

And  not  only  have  I  urged  the  duty  of  repentance  and 
faith,  but  I  have  endeavored  to  explain  fully  the  nature  of 
faith,  so  that  none  might  be  left  in  doubt  as  to  what  he  is 
required  to  do  when  commanded  to  believe.  The  same 
thing  it  was  in  my  mind  to  do  concerning  repentance — to 
explain  fully  its  nature — that  concerning  this  duty,  also,  all 
might  be  fully  informed,  and  the  way  of  salvation  made 
plain  beyond  mistake. 

And  though  prevented  by  circumstances  from  that  full  dis- 
cussion of  this  subject  which  I  would  desire  to  give  it,  I  am 
happy  that  in  the  compass  at  least  of  one  discourse  1  can, 
in  some  measure,  present  it,  and  in  such  a  manner,  perhaps, 
that  it  may  be  understood,  though  the  exhibition  must  be 
comparatively  meagre. 

It  is  not  because  the  true  meaning  of  this  word  is  not, 


194  DISCOURSES. 

in  some  degree,  generally  landerstood,  that  I  think  it  need- 
ful to  discuss  it ;  but  because  there  are  some  errors  con- 
nected with  it  in  the  minds  of  many,  which  sometimes  hin- 
der their  obedience  to  the  command,  or  afford  them  some 
pretext  to  put  it  off;  and  which  lead  them,  also,  to  defer 
it  to  a  time  in  which  there  is  no  repentance. 

In  discussing  this  subject,  we  must  first  endeavor  to  as- 
certain the  meaning  of  the  word.  For  this  we  must  go  to 
the  oriojinal  lano;uaore  in  which  the  New  Testament  was 
written. 

There  are  two  words  in  the  Greek  Testament,  both  of 
which  are  translated  repent  in  our  version.  This  verb,  in 
some  of  its  forms,  and  the  noun  repentance,  occur  sixty- 
three  times  in  the  New  Testament.  I  have  examined  every 
instance  of  its  use,  and  find  that  in  fifty-six  places  it  is  given 
as  the  translation  of  the  Greek  word  iieravoeo)  ;  and  in 
seven  places  it  is  given  as  a  translation  of  the  Greek  word 
fierafieXofiai ; — and  these  are  all  the  instances  of  the  use 
of  either  of  these  words  in  the  whole  New  Testament. 

The  word  which  Paul  uses  in  the  text,  and  which  is 
used  in  every  exhortation  to  repentance  which  is  found  in 
the  New  Testament,  is  fieravoeo). 

Merd  denotes  change  ;  vosco  is  made  from  voog,  which 
signifies  (1st)  thought  or  purpose,  (2d)  that  which  thinks  or 
determines,  i.  e.,  the  mind. 

MeravoEG),  then,  signifies  to  change  the  thought  or  pur- 
pose in  the  heart ;  or,  to  change  the  mind  ;  both  of  which 
evidently  mean  the  same  thing. 

To  repent  of  a  thing,  then,  is,  according  to  the  real 
meaning  of  the  word,  to  change  the  mind  or  purpose  con- 
cerning it. 

But  again,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  this  change 


DISCOURSES.  195 

of  purpose  must  refer  to  the  future ;  for  a  man  cannot 
change  his  purpose,  ivith  reference  to  the  past,  concerning 
anything,  but  only  with  reference  to  the  future.  In  other 
words,  a  purpose  always  refers  to  time  after  the  present, 
and  not  to  time  past.* 

Repentance  for  sin,  therefore,  is  a  change  of  mind  con- 
cerning it  for  time  to  come  ;  in  other  words,  it  is  a  solemn 
purpose  to  forsake  sin  from  this  time  forth.  And  since  sin 
consists  in  disobedience  to  God,  repentance  is  the  determi- 
nation henceforth  not  to  disobey  God,  but  to  obey  Him. 

If  this  interpretation  be  correct,  then,  true  Scriptural  re- 
pentance is  quite  a  distinct  thing  from  grief  or  distress  of 
mind  felt  in  view  of  past  sin,  though,  as  will  hereafter  be 
noticed,  somewhat  of  this  grief  ought  to  and  must  go  with 
it.  And  this  interpretation  which  I  have  given  (and  I  am 
not  alone  in  this)  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  the  Scrip- 
tures very  plainly  distinguish  between  repentance  and  such 
a  feeling  of  grief,  as  I  will  now  show. 

Turn  to  2  Corinthians,  vii.  9,  and  if  fierdvota,  the  word 
translated  repentance,  be  supposed  to  mean  sorrow  or  re- 
gret, we  have  this  absurdity,  that  the  Apostle  rejoices  that 
they  were  "  made  sorry  unto  sorrow,"  or  regret.  And  the 
same  in  the  next  verse — "  godly  sorrow  worketh  sorrow." 

But  if  it  be  replied  that  repentance  here  is  used  for  re- 

*  It  is  lamentable  that  what  is  meant  to  designate  a  purpose  or  principle 
should  be  so  generally  understood  in  our  day  to  denote  merely  or  principally  a 
feeling,  as  a  purpose  always  refers  to  something  future.  It  is  implied  in  a 
"  change  of  purpose  "  that  there  is  room  for  it ;  i.  e.,  that  that  in  reference  to 
which  the  purpose  is  changed  runs  on  into  the  future.  Strictly,  then,  a  past  act 
cannot  be  repented  of  in  itself.  It  may  be  repented  of  in  ref(3rence  to  future 
repetit  on  or  amends,  if  repetition  or  amends  are  possible  in  the  future.  If  they 
are  not  possible  in  the  future,  the  act  cannot  be  repented  of  at  all — there  can  be 
no  "change  oi  purpose'''  in  reference  to  it.  In  accordance  with  this,  see  Heb. 
xii.  17 :  *'  He  found  no  place  of  repentance" — he  found  no  room  to  ''  turn  from  " 
that  which  he  had  done. 


196  DISCOURSES. 

pentance  for  sin,  and  means,  therefore,  sorrow  for  sin,  I 
answer,  and  so  does  "  godly  sorrow  "  certainly  mean  "sor- 
row for  sin  "  (which  cannot  be  disputed)  ;  and  so  we  have 
the  Apostle  saying  that  "godly  sorrow  for  sin  worketh 
sorrow  for  sin," 

But  now,  change  the  word  repent  for  that  which  1  have 
interpreted  it  to  mean,  and  the  sense  is  clear  and  appro- 
priate. 

It  is  certain,  then,  from  Scripture,  that  sorrow  or  regret 
for  sin  already  committed  is  quite  a  distinct  thing  from  re- 
pentance. 

I  wish  now  to  notice  the  other  word,  occurring  seven 
times  in  the  New  Testament,  and  translated  (improperly) 
repent,  or  repentance. 

This  word  properly  means  (as  any  Greek  dictionary  will 
tell  you)  to  feel  grief  or  regret.  It  occurs  three  times  in 
the  passage  just  brought  before  us  (2  Cor.  vii.  8-10).  I 
will  give  it  its  proper  translation,  and  express,  also,  the 
idea  of  repentance  more  fully,  and  you  will  see  the  clear- 
ness and  propriety  of  the  sense ; 

"  For  though  I  grieved  {e^vTrrjara)  you  by  the  letter,  I  do  not  regret 
it  {ixeraixEXofxai)  though  I  did  regret;  for  I  perceive  that  letter  did 
grieve  you,  though  but  for  a  season.  I  now  rejoice,  not  because  you 
were  grieved,  but  because  you  were  grieved  to  a  change  of  your  pur- 
pose {jitTavoi  av) ;  for  ye  were  grieved  after  a  godly  manner,  that  ye 
might  receive  damage  by  us  in  nothing.  For  sorrow  toward  God 
worketh  change  of  purpose  unto  salvation,  not  to  be  regTetted 
{aixsTaftsXriToi') ;  but  the  sorrow  of  this  world  worketh  death."* 

Now  the  fact  that  the  Apostle  is  so  careful  to  use 
lieraiieXoiiai  (to  regret)  in  the  eighth  verse,  and  fierdvoca 

*  The  author's  translation  ■was  not  written  out,  and  the  above  is  by  the  Editor. 
It  is  supported  in  the  main  by  Bloomfield,  who  renders  the  principal  phrase 
thus :  "  That  ye  were  [so]  pained  as  to  be  brought  to  repentance  and  reforma- 


DISCOURSES.  197 

(change  of  mind)  in  the  ninth,  in  their  pecuHar  connection, 
shows  tliis difference  of  meaning;  for,  to  suppose  they  both 
mean  the  same  thing,  either  regr-et  or  change  of  mind ;  or, 
to  suppose  their  meanings  interchanged,  is  to  make  non- 
sense of  the  three  verses. 

Another  place  where  [lerafxeXofiaL  (to  feel  regret  or  sor- 
row) is  used,  is  in  Matt,  xxvii.  3.  If  fieravoeo)  had  been 
used  here  it  would  have  proved  our  interpretation  false — 
for  Judas  could  not  at  this  time  have  changed  his  purpose. 
The  deed  was  done,  and  could  not  be  undone,  and  there  was 
no  possibility  now  of  changing  or  making  any  purpose  with 
regard  to  doing  it.  But  the  writer  does  not  use  this  word. 
And  the  fact  that  he  does  not,  confirms  the  idea  of  its  hav- 
ing a  different  meaning  from  the  one  used  ;  especially, 
seeing  it  is  a  word  much  more  frequently  employed  in  the 
New  Testament  (fifty-six  times  to  seven — eight  times  as^ 
often),  and  would,  therefore,  have  been  likely  to  have  been 
used  here,  had  the  writer  understood  it  to  mean  the  same 
thing. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  though  Judas  seems  sin- 
cerely to  have  regretted  this  act  of  sin,  the  betrayal  of  his 
Master,  yet  he  did  not  truly  repent  of  sin — "  he  went  and 
hanged  himself." 

The  three  other  places  where  iieraiieXofxai  is  used,  are 
Matt.  xxi.  29  and  32,  and  Rom.  xi.  29.  In  all  these  its 
proper  translation  is  plainly  to  regret  or  feel  sorrow  for, 

tion,'^ — and  says :  "  Meravoia  here  signifies  such  a  change  of  mind  as  produces 
reformation  in  conduct  "  He  cites  also  Jeremy  Taylor,  and  the  following  fine 
passage  from  Hierocles,  in  his  Aur.  Carm. : 

'H  6't  fitravoia  avrri  <pi\oGO(plas  apX^  ylvsrat  koI  tojv  dvofJTCOv  epywv  rfi 
KoX  \f>yoiv   <p  V  Y  fJ  1   'fai  ^ai  rfjj  nfierantXrtTOv  ^oitiq  h  npoJir]  irapacTX^vfi. 

On  the  phrase  Kara  Qeov  Aviir}  he  cites  Rosenmiiller:  "'arising  from  causes  out 
of  which  lie  would  have  it  rise,  and  producing  effects  such  as  He  would  ap- 
prove." With  this  we  might  well  compare  the  view  of  faith  as  a  "  work  of  God," 
presented  in  the  discourses  on  that  subject. 


198  DISCOaRSES. 

Another  passage  which  confirms  our  translation  of 
fieravoEG),  as  meaning  to  change  the  mind,  is  found  in  He- 
brews xii.  17.  (Read  it.)  To  suppose  that  to  repent 
means  to  feel  sorrow,  makes  nonsense  of  this  verse. 

"  When  he  [Esau]  would  have  inherited  the  blessing,  he 
was  rejected ;  for  he  found  no  place  of  sorrow,  though  he 
sought  it  carefully  with  tears." 

But  to  interpret  the  word  "repent"  to  mean  "change 
of  mind,"  (as  is  done  in  the  margin  of  your  reference  Bi- 
bles), and  the  sense  is  good  and  appropriate.  Esau  found 
no  place  or  opportunity  to  change  his  mind  in  reference  to 
the  foolish  bargaining  away  his  birthright.  It  was  a  deed 
already  done,  and  God  never  offered  him  the  privilege  of 
recalling  the  past,  and  deciding  again  whether  he  would  do 
it  or  not.  A  change  of  mind  always  refers  to  time  to  come ; 
but  time  to  come  had  nothing  to  do  with  this  decision,  ex- 
cept to  bring  its  consequences.  There  was,  then,  no  place 
for  a  change  of  mind,  no  place  for  repentance,  though  he 
sought  it  carefully  with  tears.  God  would  not  recall  the 
past,  and  give  him  an  opportunity  to  decide  again. 

Once  more  I  add  :  every  time  the  word  properly  signify- 
ing "repent  "  is  used  in  the  whole  New  Testament  (and  it 
is  used  fifty-six  times),  to  translate  it  "  change  of  mind  or 
[,urpose"  makes  good  and  appropriate  sense  of  the  passage 
in  which  it  occurs — while  to  translate  it  "regret,"  or 
"feel  sorrow,"  makes  absurdity  in  many  instances,  as 
pointed  out. 

/  consider  it,  then,  as  proved,  that  the  word  "  repent "  signi- 
Jies,  simply  to  change  the  mind  or  purpose,  and  not,  to  feel  sorrow, 
or  regret,  or  distress.'^ 

*  Chalmers^  in  an  essay  to  which  Mr.  S.  refers,  and  which  is  published,  we  think, 
as  a  tract,  bj  the  Am.  T.  Society,  takes  the  same  view  of  the  nature  of  repent- 
ance.    Whately  remarks :    "  There  are  two  words  in  Greek,  both  of  which  we 


DISCOURSES.  199 

But  this  is  not  all  the  proof  that  Scriptural  repentance 
consists  in  a  change  of  mind  or  purpose,  and  not  in  a  feel- 
ing of  sorrow.  Thus  far  we  have  depended  on  the  word 
used  for  our  proof.  But  there  is  abundant  proof,  not  de- 
pending at  all  on  the  signification  of  the  word  "  repent," 
but  derived  from  other  pass  ges  of  Scripture,  where  the 
same  duty  is  commanded  in  different  language,  or  where  the 
character  of  man  is  so  described  as  to  involve  this  conse- 
quence. 

Of  the  former  kind  are  all  those  passages,  and  they  are 
numerous,  which  command  men  to  turn  from  their  idols,  or 
from  following  after  vanity,  and  to  serve  the  living  God. 
This  is  plainly  the  same  command  as  the  command  to  re- 
pent. To  turn  from  tho  world  to  God  is,  surely,  to  repent 
of  sin — and  to  repent  of  sin  certainly  is  to  turn  unto  God. 
But  to  turn  from  following  idols  unto  the  service  of  God, 
is  nothing  else  than  to  resolve,  from  this  time  forth,  not  to 
seek  the  world  as  the  great  object  of  pursuit,  but  to  live  in 
obedience  to  God.  This  is,  surely,  a  change  of  mind,  or 
purpose,  with  regard  to  the  great  object  for  which  a  man 
will  live      Repentance,  then,  is  a  change  of  mind. 

Again,  we  are  told  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs,  "  whoso 
confesseth  and  forsaketh  his  sins,  shall  have  mercy."  But 
will  any  man  have  mercy  that  does  not  repent  ?  Surely 
not.  Then  to  confess  and  forsake  sin  is  to  repent.  But 
confessing  and  forsaking  sin  do  not  consist  in  feeling  grief 
or  distress  about  it,  but  in  changing  the  mind  or  purpose 
with  reference  to  it ;  i.  c,  in  taking  up  the  solemn  resolu- 

translate  'repentance;'  one  signifying  merely  'regret  for  the  past,'  the  other 
properly,  a  '  change  of  disposition.'  It  is  to  this  last  alone  that  the  promises  of 
Scripture  are  made, — to  Metanoia,  not  Metameleia.''' — "Scrip.  Rev.  of  a  Tut. 
State,"  ch.  xi. 


too  DISCOURSES. 

tion  or  intention  henceforth  to  obey  God.    Repentance,  then, 
is  changing  the  mind. 

Again,  we  are  told  in  the  same  part  of  the  Scriptures, 
that  "  as  a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart,  so  is  he,"  i.  e.,  as  he 
meaneth,  or  intendeth,  or  purposeth.*  This,  as  I  have  be- 
fore observed,  applies  both  to  individual,  separate  actions, 
and  to  the  whole  life. 

The  sinner,  then,  is  one  whose  great  intent  or  purpose  of 
heart  is  to  strive  after  selfish  worldly  good — while  the  godly 
man,  or  the  Christian,  is  one  whose  great  ruling  intent  is 
to  serve  God,  that  he  may  secure  the  salvation  of  his  soul. 

The  difference  between  these  two,  then,  is  in  the  great 
ruling  intent  or  purpose  with  which  they  live.  And  for 
the  sinner,  therefore,  to  forsake  his  sins  and  turn  to  God, 
is,  to  change  the  great  ruling  intent  of  his  heart — i.  e.,  it  is 
to  change  his  mind  or  purpose.  But,  forsaking  sin  and 
turning  to  God,  is  repenting.  Repentance,  then,  is  a  change 
of  mind  or  purpose. 

Another  proof  of  the  truth  of  this  doctrine  is  found  in 
the  command  of  God  to  Israel  by  the  prophet  Ezekiel : 
^^Cast  away  your  transgressions,  and  make  you  a  new  heart 
and  a  new  spirit.^^  This  command  has  reference,  plainly,  to 
the  change  which  takes  place  in  a  man  when  he  repents. 
This  change  is  here  designated  by  the  term  "  make  you  a 
new  heart  and  a  new  spirit."  Asking  you  to  remember  this, 
I  proceed  to  show  that  the  word  "  heart "  in  Scripture  is 
equivalent  to  the  word  mind  with  us  ;  a  word,  in  its  broader 
sense,  embracing  all  the  faculties  of  the  soul,  but  used 
often  to  denote  the  understanding,  and  often,  also,  to  denote 
the  state  of  the  will  and  affections, 

*  Prov.  xxiii.  7.  This  passage  is  often  misquoted — "As  a  man  thinketh,  so  is 
he," — in  support  of  the  notion  that  opinions  in  religious  matters  decide  a  man's 
character  and  destiny. —  [Ed. 


DISCOURSES.  201 

We  are  accustomed  to  refer  the  mind  to  the  brain  as  its 
seat ;  but  the  Jews  were  accustomed  to  refer  it  to  the  cen- 
tral organ  of  the  body,  the  heart.  This  was  probably  be- 
cause strong  emotion,  of  which  simple,  uncultivated  people 
are  wont  to  take  most  notice,  does  so  affect  the  action  of 
the  heart  as  to  give  occasion  to  suppose  that  the  emotion  is 
seated  there.  For  this  reason  we  are  accustomed  to  desig- 
nate the  affections  of  the  soul  by  this  term,  heart ;  but  the 
Jews,  not  being  accustomed  to  distinguish  so  metaphysically 
between  the  feelings  and  the  thoughts  or  purposes  of  the 
mind,  located  the  whole  mind  there,  and  spoke  of  all  the 
faculties  of  the  soul  under  this  term.* 

*  Proof  of  this  is  found  in  the  language  of  Scripture.  1st,  Heart,  in  the  sense 
of  understanding.  Job  xii.  3 :  "I  have  understanding  as  well  as  you  " —  (correct 
rendering:  see  context) .  But  the  Hebrew  word  here  rendered  "understanding, 
is  heart.    Heart,  then,  here,  is  the  same  as  mind,  used  to  denote  understanding. 

Deut.  xxix.  4:  "  Yet  the  Lord  hath  not  given  you  an  heart  to  perceive,"  &c. ; 
t.  e.,  a  mind  or  understanding  to  perceive. 

1  Kings  iii.  12 :  "  I  have  given  thee  (Solomon)  a  wise  and  an  understanding 
heart;"  i.  ^.,  a  wise  and  understanding  mind,  or,  an  acute  and  large  under- 
standing. 

1  Kings  iv.  29  :  "And  God  gave  Solomon  largeness  of  heart,  even  as  the  sand 
that  is  on  the  sea  shore  " — evidently,  largeness  of  mind  or  understanding. 

Job  xxxiv.  10 :  "  Hearken  unto  me,  ye  men  of  understanding :  Far  be  it  from 
God  that  he  should  do  wickedness." — Hebrew,  "  men  of  heart.'^  In  the  thirty- 
fourth  verse  the  same  expression  occurs  :  "Let  men  of  heart  tell  me  ;"  i.e.,  men 
of  mind  or  understanding. 

Hoseavii.  11:  "Ephraim  is  like  a  silly  dove,  without  heart;"  i.e.,  without 
mind  or  understanding. 

Many  more  instances  might  be  given,  but  these  must  suffice,  with  one  or  two 
from  the  New  Testament. 

Matt.  xiii.  1-5  :  "  This  people's  heart  is  waxed  gross,  .  .  .  lest  they  should  un- 
derstand with  their  heart,  and  should  be  converted  and  I  should  heal  them  ;■'  i.e.., 
their  mind  has  become  stupid,  so  that  they  do  not  understand  with  their  mind. 

Luke  xxiv.  25 :  "  0  fools,  and  slow  of  heart  to  believe  all  that  the  propheta 
have  spoken  ;"'  i.  e.,  slow  of  mind  to  perceive — slow  of  understanding.  This  dull- 
ness of  understanding  was  caused  by  their  proud  and  selfish  prejudices,  and  was 
therefore  a  fit  ground  of  reproach. 

2d.  Heart, in  the  sense  of  the  will  and  affections,  (just  as  we  use  the  word  mind) . 

Deut.  T.  29 :  "0  that  there  were  such  an  heart  in  them  (i.  e.,  such  a  state  of 

10 


202  DISCOURSES, 

What,  then,  is  meant  by  the  command,  "make  yon  a 
new  heart,"  or  mind?  It  is  to  make  a  wq-w purpose — in 
other  words,  it  is  to  change  the  mind — in  other  words  stilly 
it  is  to  change  the  ruling  purpose  of  the  soul.  This  is  corrob- 
orated by  what  foUoAvs  in  the  words  of  this  command — 
"  make  you  a  new  heart  and  a  new  spirit ;"  /.  e.,  change 
the  great  purpose  of  your  soul,  and  the  spring  of  action 
which  animates  you. 

tlie  ■will  and  affections)  that  they  would  fear  me,  and  keep  my  commandments 
always,  that  it  might  he  well  with  them  and  with  their  children  for  ever."  The 
employment  of  the  word  mind  here  would  be  perfectly  accordant  with  our  very 
common  use  of  it — "  Oh  that  there  were  such  a  mind  in  them,"  &c.  The  He- 
brew word  "  heart,"  therefore,  in  this  passage,  is  exactly  equiyalent  to  our  word 
"  mind,"  used  here  to  denote  the  state  of  the  will  and  affections,  or  the  ruling  pur- 
pose of  the  mind  and  the  affections  which  go  with  it.  Instances  of  this  sort  in 
the  Scriptures  are  too  common  to  need  citation  :  but  I  will  quote  a  few. 

1  Kings,  viii.  17, 18 :  "  It  was  in  the  heart  of  David  my  father  to  build  a  house 
for  the  name  of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  David  my 
father,  whereas  it  was  in  thine  heart  to  build  an  house  unto  my  name,  thou  didst 
well  that  it  was  in  thine  heart."  In  all  these  instances  we  may  substitute  the 
word  9nind,  to  denote  chiefly  the  will,  or  that  power  of  the  mind  which  purposes 
or  resolves. 

Jer.  V.  23:  "This  people  hath  a  revolting  and  a  rebellious  heart;"  i.  e.,  mind 
or  ivill. 

Acts  xi.  23:  Barnabas  "exhorted  them  all  that  with  purpose  of  heart  they 
would  cleave  unto  the  Lord  j"  i.  e.,  with  purpose  of  mind,  or  with  a  firm  piir- 
pose. 

3d.  "  Heart "  is  used,  as  we  use  the  tvord  "  mind^'  to  denote^  principally,  the  af- 
fections or  etnotions  of  the  mind. 

Deut.  xxviii.  47  :  "  Thou  servedst  not  the  Lord  thy  God  with  joyfulness  and 
with  gladness  of  heart." 

Psalms  cv.  3 :  "  Let  the  heart  of  them  rejoice  that  seek  the  Lord." 

Psalms  Ixxiii.  7  :  "  They  have  more  than  heart  could  wish." 

Prov.  xiii.  12:  "  Hope  deferred  maketh  the  heart  sick." 

Prov.  xiv.  10:  "  The  heart  knoweth  its  own  bitterness." 

Prov.  XV.  13:  "A  merry  heart  maketh  a  cheerful  countenance." 

Here,  and  in  a  great  many  other  passages,  the  word  heart  is  used  to  denote  the 
emotive  faculties  of  the  soul.  The  word  "mind,"  in  our  language,  would  be  ap- 
propriately used  in  all  these  instances.  It  is  very  common,  however,  with  us,  to 
use  the  word  "  heart "  when  the  emotive  faculties  are  designated ;  more  so,  in- 
deedi.than  to  employ  the  other  word  "mind."  Yet  this  word  may  always  be 
used  in  such  cases  with  correctness. 


DISCOURSES.  203 

The  command,  therefore,  which  God  has  uttered  by  the 
prophet  Ezekiel,  "make  you  a  new  mind,"  confirms  the 
doctrine  which  I  have  proposed  concerning  the  nature  of 
repentance,  and  shows  it  to  be  a  change  of  mind  or  purpose. 

Once  more,  this  doctrine  is  confirmed  by  the  doctrine  of 
Paul,  when  he  says  "  if  any  man  be  in  Christ  Jesus,  he  is 
a  new  creature."  This  means  new  in  character — new  in  the 
great  ruling  purpose  of  the  heart  and  life.^  The  change, 
therefore,  by  which  a  man  becomes  a  Christian,  is  a  change 
in  his  great  ruling  purpose  ;  but  the  change  by  which  a 
man  becomes  a  Christian  is  in  repentance  from  sin.  Re- 
pentance^ therefore,  is  a  change  of  purpose^  or  change  of  mind, 

I  have  now  shown  that  Scriptural  repentance  consists 
in  a  change  of  mind  or  purpose,  from  two  sources  of  in- 
formation :  first,  from  the  fact  that  this  is  the  proper  mean- 
ing of  the  word  itself;  and  second,  from  the  fact  that  the 
great  change  which  the  Scriptures  require  in  man,  in  order 
to  salvation,  which  is  the  same  change  denoted  by  repent- 
ance, is  spoken  of  in  such  terms  as  to  manifest  that  it  con- 
sists in  such  a  change  of  mind. 

What  kind  of  a  change  of  mind,  or  purpose,  is  meant  by 
repentance  in  the  Scriptures,  is  also  manifest  from  what 
has  been  said  in  our  discussion.  The  command  "  to  re- 
pent," in  the  Bible,  is  generally  so  connected  with  other 
expressions  as  to  show  what  it  is  which  men  are  to  repent 
of,  and,  if  we  may  so  express  it,  what  they  are  to  repent 

I  have  now  proved  that  the  usage  of  the  Hebrew  word  "heart"  is  exactly 
equivalent  to  our  usage  of  the  word  ''  mind;"'  saving  that  it  is  more  often  used 
to  denote  the  emotive  faculties,  though  not  more  correctly.  I  have  also  shown, 
more  particularly,  that  the  word  "  heart,"'  in  Hebrew  usage,  like  the  word 
"  mind,""  in  English  u.«age,  often  denotes  the  purpose  of  the  mind,  or  the  state  of 
the  will  and  the  attending  affections. 

*  The  author  here  alludes  to  proof  of  this  view  of  the  passage,  given  in  dis- 
courae  on  the  Lord's  Day  previous. 


204  BISCOtrRSES. 

to.  They  are  to  repent  of  sin  ;  and  sin^  the  same  Bible  in* 
forms  us,  is  the  transgression  of  God's  law  ;  and  God's 
law,  it  also  teaches,  is  briefly  expressed  in  these  two  com- 
mands :  to  love  God  supremely,  and  our  neighbor  as  our- 
selves. To  repent,  therefore,  is  to  determine  no  longer  to 
transgress  this  law — i.  e.,  it  is  to  determine,  from  this  time 
forth,  to  live  unto  God,  and  for  the  rights  and  interests  of 
our  fellow  men. 

For  the  mind  sincerely  to  come  into  such  a  state,  from 
a  state  of  selfishness  in  its  purposes,  from  entire  worldliness 
of  aim,  is  surely  a  great  and  important  change*  It  is  im^ 
portant  for  the  honor  of  God,  for  the  happiness  of  one's 
fellow-men,  and  for  the  purity  and  goodness  of  the  soul  in 
which  it  takes  place.  It  is  a  change  so  great  as  to  involve 
an  entire  change  of  the  character ;  a  change  from  utter  sel- 
fishness, the  root  of  every  sinful  thought,  or  word,  or  deed, 
to  the  holy  nobleness  of  universal  love. 

The  relation  which  those  feelings  of  sorrow  and  distress, 
experienced  by  the  mind  in  view  of  the  nature  and  conse- 
quences of  sin,  sustain  to  repentance,  needs  liow  to  be  con- 
sidered. 

Repentance  itself  has  been  shown  to  consist  essentially 
in  a  change  of  the  mind's  ruling  purpose ;  but  the  human 
mind  is  the  subject  of  various  powers  or  faculties,  and  such 
a  change  in  it  does  not  take  place  alone. 

The  mind  which  truly  sees  the  nature  of  the  sinfulness 
in  which  it  has  been  living,  that  it  is  the  transgression  of  a 
benevolent  law,  will  Irom  its  nature  unavoidably  feel  dis- 
tressed  that  it  has  been  guilty  of  such  transgression.  And 
this  feeling,  especially  when  quickened  by  a  view  of  the 
Divine  character,  tends  powerfully  to  lead  the  mind  to  give 
up  its  sin,   or  to  repent.     It  is  that  "godly  sorrow"  of 


DISCOURSES.  205 

which  Paul  speaks,  that  "  worketh  repentance  unto  salva- 
tion, not  to  be  regretted."  But  this  very  fact  implies  that 
the  sorrow  which  is  felt  is  a  distinct  thing  from  the  re- 
pentance itself. 

It  cannot  be  affirmed,  however,  with  certainty,  that  this 
godly  sorrow  always  precedes  repentance.  Some  minds 
may  be  moved  to  forsake  sin  by  that  distress  which,  through 
Divine  grace,  they  are  brought  to  feel,  in  view  of  the  awful 
consequences  to  which  it  has  exposed  them.  Some  minds, 
again,  may  be  led  to  determine  on  obedience  to  God  by  a 
simple  view  of  the  excellence  of  His  character  and  will. 
In  neither  of  these  cases  is  there  any  godly  sorrow  pre- 
ceding the  act  of  repentance.  But  in  both  these  cases  it 
will  as  surely /oZ/oif  repentance  as  that  the  soul  shall  con- 
tinue to  live  and  apprehend  the  truth.  When,  in  the 
former  case,  the  soul  shall  have  experienced  the  sense  of 
pardon,  and  been  relieved  of  its  fears,  and  when  in  both 
cases  some  experience  of  obedience  is  had,  and  some  know- 
ledge of  the  Divine  goodness,  then  will  follow  that  godly 
sorrow  which  more  than  anything  else  deepens  the  soul's 
repentance  and  sets  it  more  fully  upon  God. 

This  is  indeed  a  sorrow  not  sorrowful !  It  is  a  grief  where- 
in joy  has  the  greater  part — for  there  is  mingled  with  the 
sad  regrets  for  sin  that  blissful  sense  of  the  Divine  good- 
ness which  the  soul  can  in  no  otherwise  feel. 

And  this  most  blessed  sorrow  for  sin,  this  sorrow  most 
acceptable  to  God,  must  always  follow  repentance,  and 
can  never  precede  it. 

Inferences. 

First.  Repentance  denotes  the  same  act  of  the  soul  with  that 
sometimes  expressed  hy  the  terms  "  being  horn  again,'*  and  "  con 


206  DISCOURSES 

version.''''     It  is  the  act  by  wliich  the  soul  is  changed  from 
a  sinful  to  a  holy  state. 

But  though  these  terms  all  denote  the  same  act — there 
is  a  reason  for  the  use  of  each — they  do  not  all  have  pre- 
cisely the  same  meaning. 

Being  horn  again,  expresses  simply  the  fact  of  a  change 
in  the  soul's  condition.  Repentance  denotes  that  change, 
hut  with  a  reference  to  that  state  of  sin  Jrain  ivhich  the  change 
was  made ;  conversion  denotes  the  same  chansre,  hut  with  a 
reference  to  that  state  of  godliness  to  which  the  change  is 
made.  And  here  it  should  be  remarked  that  to  convert, 
means  to  turn.  The  Greek  word  eTnarpecpcj  is  properly 
translated  ''turn,"  in  Acts  ix.  35;  "all  that  dwelt  in 
Lydda  and  Saron  saw  him  and  turned  to  the  Lord ;"  Acts 
xi.  21,  "a great  number  believed  and  turned  unto  the  Lord ;' 
and  Acts  xiv.  15,  we  "  preach  unto  you  that  ye  should 
turn  from  these  vanities,  unto  the  living  God.  '* 

But  instead  of  always  rendering  e'iTLarge(pG)  by  the  En- 
glish word  turn,  our  translators  have  sometimes  rendered 
it  by  the  Latin  word  convert  or  he  converted,  which  has  ob- 
scured the  subject,  and  given  rise  to  false  ideas.  The  word 
always  means  to  turn — and  though  the  name  of  Him  to 
whom  the  sinner  turns  is  not  always  mentioned,  it  seems, 
to  be  always  implied. 

This  turning  to  God  consists  simply  in  taking  upon  us 

*  We  may  add  as  specially  pertinent,  Acts  iii.  36,  vii.  39;  2  Cor.  iii.  16,  and  1 
Thes.  i.  9.  In  the  first  of  these  passages  Bloomfield  remarks  an  ambiguity  of 
interpretation,  since  iirQ<TTpE(peiv  may  be  taken  either  in  a  transitive  or  intransi- 
tive sense.  "  The  latter  view,  which  is  supported  by  the  most  eminent,  ancient 
and  modern  interpreters,  seems  preferable.  And  £v  rcf  may  be  taken  for  £is  top 
denoting  purpose;  or  for  £ti  ;  q.  d.  'On  every  one  of  your  turning  from  his  in- 
iquities,' i.  e.,  if  every  one  of  you  shall  turn.  This  is  confirmed  by  the  words  of 
yeise  19,  nsraponaare  Kal  iTTiarptipars  ;  and  by  Isa.  i.  16,  (which  the  Apostl 
seems  to  have  had  in  mind,)  navaaaOs  and  rojv  novrjpiwv  i/^cSi'." 


DISCOURSES.  207 

His  service.  It  is  turning  to  Him  as  our  God.  In  other 
words,  it  is  the  forming  in  our  hearts  the  solemn  purpose, 
henceforth  to  live  supremely  unto  Him,  giving  up  the  love 
of  the  world. 

And  this  is  the  same  change,  which,  when  we  have  par- 
ticularly in  mind  those  sins  from  which  we  turn  in  making 
this  change,  we  call  repentance,  in  imitation  of  the  Scrip- 
tural usage  of  this  word. 

Repentance  and  conversion,  then,  denote  the  same 
change  ;  but  one  denotes  it  with  reference  to  what  preceded 
it,  the  other  denotes  it  with  a  reference  to  what  comes  af- 
ter it. 

Repentance  is  turning  f>vm  sin ;  conversion  is  turning 
to  God;  but  turning  from  sin,  and  turning  to  God,  are  both 
one  aiid  the  same  act. 

Second.  A  long  period  of  distress,  in  conviction  for  sin,  is 
no  part  of  repentance.  It  is  caused  by  the  fact  that  the  sin- 
ner will  not  repent  (either  to  forsake  disobedience  or  un- 
belief.) It  is  wholly  unnecessary,  for  the  promise  of  God 
to  forgive  him  who  repents  and  believes  in  Jesus  is  without 
any  reserve  or  any  further  condition. 

Neither  should  a  man  say  that  he  cannot  repent,  be- 
cause he  does  not  feel  deep  convictions,  or  sorrow  for  sin. 
This  is  not  what  God  requires  of  him.  His  command  is 
that  the  sinner  turn  from  his  sins  unto  God.  This  he  has 
power  to  do.  You  have  power  to  do  it  this  moment,  im- 
penitent man. 

Third.  The  necessity  of  the  Holy  Spirifs  influences  cannot 
arise  from  the  ivant  of  power  in  the  sinner.  It  must 
arise  from  the  fact  that  he  is  so  wedded  to  the  world  that 
he  will  not  repent,  unless  the  Spirit  of  God  is  given. 
Hence  its  influences  are  properly  called  gracious,  because 


208  DISCOURSES. 

they  are  a  pure  gratuity.  And  this  truth  shows  the  sin- 
fulness of  men,  and  the  goodness  of  God.  It  shows,  too, 
the  danger  of  resisting  the  Spirit  of  God. 

Fourth.  We  see  ivho  is  the  true  penitent.  Not  the  man 
who  in  the  hour  and  place  of  religious  exercise  feels  trou- 
bled in  view  of  his  sins,  and  confesses  them  with  much  ap- 
parent humility,  but  who  goes  out  into  the  world  only  to 
repeat  them  ;  but  the  man  who  is  found  putting  away  sin 
in  his  life. 

We  sometimes  hear  of  dishonest  professors  of  religion — yet 
they  seem  to  pimy  in  a  very  penitential  and  pious  manner.  The 
only  way  in  which  I  can  account  for  their  delusion  is,  to  sup- 
pose that  they  have  mistaken  the  nature  of  repentance.  A  sin- 
cere purpose  ivill  produce  some  fruits  in  the  life.  A  true  repen- 
i  ance  will  therefore  he  manifested  in  the  life  ;  and  it  matters 
little  how  much  or  how  little  a  man  stops  to  grieve  over 
sins  past,  provided  he  is  found  forsaking  sin  in  the  future. 
Grief  for  sins  past,  however,  is  valuable  to  the  soul  so  far 
as  it  impels  it  the  more  earnestly  to  guard  against  it  in 
future ;  and  in  a  truly  penitent  soul  it  has  undoubtedly  a 
strong  influence  in  this  direction.  But  it  is  a  wretched 
mistake  when  a  man  measures  his  repentance  by  the 
amount  or  degree  of  troubled  feeling  that  visits  his  bosom 
in  religious  hours,  rather  than  by  his  fidelity  in  putting 
away  sin  in  the  hour  of  intercourse  with  worldly  things 
and  of  conflict  with  temptation. 

Fifth.  As  an  ordinary  thing,  in  Christian  communities,  there 
can  he  no  repentance  upon  a  death-hed. 

Esau,  we  have  seen,  "  found  no  place  for  repentance, 
though  he  sought  it  carefully  with  tears."  Plis  birthright 
he  had  sold  for  a  mess  of  pottage — the  deed  was  done  and 
past,  and  God  took  it  not  back ;  He  gave  him  no  oppor- 


DISCOURSES.  209 

tunity  to  decide  again  whether  he  would  sell  it  for  such  a 
price.  And  just  so  when  the  sinner  has  come  to  his  dying 
bed,  and  when  he  sees  that  once,  when  life  was  before 
him,  God  offered  him  eternal  salvation  on  condition  that 
in  faith  in  Christ  he  would  devote  that  life  to  His  service, 
and  when  he  reflects  that  he  rejected  that  offer,  and  spent 
his  hfe  in  seeking  the  world,  oh !  he  may  wish  with  many 
tears  that  he  had  the  opportunity  again  to  choose !  but  he 
will  not  find  it — there  is  no  place  now  for  repentance — no 
opportunity  to  change  his  mind  as  to  how  he  will  live  in 
this  world  hereafter,  for  no  such  hereafter  is  his. 

It  has  been  shown  that  repentance  has  reference  to  the  future. 
But  sin  consists  in  loving  this  world  more  than  God — 
in  living  for  worldly  ends  rather  than  to  serve  and  honor 
God.  How  then  can  a  man  who  has  come  to  the  end  of 
life  change  his  mind  or  purpose  as  to  how  he  will  live,  re- 
solving that  he  will  no  longer  live  unto  the  world,  but  will 
live  unto  God  ?  He  cannot  so  change  his  mind — that  is, 
he  cannot  repent  of  sin. 

Objection.— Did  not  the  thief  on  the  cross  truly  repent? 
The  case  of  this  thief  was  different  from  that  of  any  of  you. 
You  have  no  evidence  that  he  had  ever  before  in  his  life 
been  offered  salvation  on  condition  of  repentance — neither 
was  he  offered  it  now— but  without  any  assurance  of  sal- 
vation he  freely  confessed  his  sins,  and  began,  so  far  as  he 
had  any  opportunity  left,  to  obey  God  in  doing  righteously 
and  believing  in  Jesus.  He  confessed  Christ  there  on  the 
cross,  subject  as  he  was  to  be  insulted  and  tortured  anew 
by  the  crucifiers  of  Jesus,  who  surrounded  him,  and  humbly 
prayed  that  Christ  would  "  remember"  him  in  his  King- 
dom.    No  wonder  that  Jesus  answered ;   "  This  day  shalt 

10* 


210  DISCOURSES. 

thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise."*  But  the  case  of  the  sinner 
who  has  all  his  life  been  offered  salvation  on  condition  of 
repentance  and  faith  in  Christ,  and  who  has  now  nothing  left 
that  he  can  do  to  prove  that  he  hates  sin  and  loves  the 
Lord, — such  a  case  is  surely  very  different  from  the  case 
of  the  penitent  thief.  yu^4^^i>^ 

Is  this  a  hard  doctrine  %  No,  it  is  remarkable  (and  it  is 
a  sure  doctrine)  :  the  case  of  Esau  who  had  sold  his  birth- 
right for  a  mess  of  pottage,  and  the  case  of  the  sinner  who 
has  bartered  away  his  title  to  a  heavenly  inheritance  for 
the  momentary  joys  of  earth,  and  who  has  passed  by  the 
time  of  choosing  between  Ged  and  the  world,  are  exactly 
similar. 

*  Abp.  Whately,  in  a  discussion  of  the  case  of  the  thieves  crucified  with  Christ, 
after  showing  that  the  adage,  "  one  was  taken  that  none  might  despair,  and  only 
one,  that  none  might  presume,"  is  not  supported  by  this  passage  of  Scripture, 
and  that  the  repentance  of  the  believing  thief  must  have  occurred  before  he  came 
to  the  cross,  remarks  that  his  was  surely  "  a  most  extraordinary  instance  of  faith, 
especially  considering  how  strongly  all  the  current  Jewish  prejudices  concerning 
the  Messiah  set  the  other  way.  .  .  .  Yet  in  opposition  to  all  these  preju- 
dices, this  man  acknowledged  as  his  Lord  and  King — as  the  Supreme  Ruler  of 
the  unseen  world — a  person  who  was  nailed  to  a  cross  beside  him,  derided  by 
his  enemies,  deserted  by  his  friends,  and  about  to  conclude  a  persecuted  life  by 
a  most  ignominious  death.  .  .  .  Whether  any  one  of  us  does  actually  possess 
equal  faith  with  this  man,  can  be  known  only  to  the  all-wise  God.  But  we  may 
be  sure  that  no  one  of  us  can  display  equal  faith  with  his ;  because  the  circum- 
stances are  such  as  can  never  occur  again."  Scr.  Rev.  of  a  Future  State.  Chaps. 
xi.  xii.   We  wish  every  person  could  read  these  chapters. —  [Ed. 


DISCOURSE       XIV. 


Evils  of  Sectarianism. 

1  Cor.  I.  10 — 13  :  ^'  Now  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  by  the  name 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  ye  all  speak  the  same  thing, 
and  that  there  be  no  divisions  among  you  ;  but  that  ye  be 
perfectly  joined  together  in  the  samemind,  and  in  the  same 
judgment.  For  it  hath  been  declared  unto  me  of  you,  my 
brethren,  by  them  which  are  of  the  house  of  Chloe,  that  there 
are  contentions  among  you.  Now  this  I  say,*  that  every 
one  of  you  saith,  I  am  of  Paul  ;  and  I  of  Apollos ;  and 
I  of  Cephas ;  and  I  of  Christ.  Is  Christ  divided  ?  Was 
Paul  crucified  for  you  ?  or  were  ye  baptized  in  the  name 
of  Paul  ?" 

It  would  seem  as  if  no  man  could  read  these  words  of 
the  Great  Apostle,  without  vividly  seeing  that  party  divi- 
sions among  the  people  of  Christ  were,  in  his  view,  a  most 
astonishing  thing,  as  well  as  a  great  evil.  "  Is  Christ  di- 
vided," he  says;  that  ye,  who  are  all  His,  and  who  have 
all  been  "  baptized  by  one  spirit  into  one  body,"  even  "  the 
body  of  Christ,"  should  be  sundered  one  from  the  other 
(1  Cor.  xii.  13 — 27,)  by  party  names?  And  he  abjures 
them  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  he  beseeches  them  by  an 
appeal  the  most  sacred  that  words  could  utter,  even  by  the 
name  of  the  Christ,  as  it  were  for  His  sake,  and  for  His 
bleeding  cause — to  forsake  these  pernicious  ways,  and  to 
be  perfectly  joined  together  in  the  same  mind.* . 

*  Or,  "  this  is  what  I  speak  of,  or  refer  to."' 


212  DISCOURSES. 

In  the  latter  part  of  this  Epistle,  also,  he  bears  hard 
upon  the  same  point,  though  incidentally.  "  There  are  di- 
versities of  gifts,"  he  says,  "  but  the  same  Spirit ;  and  there 
are  diversities  of  operations,  but  it  is  the  same  God  which 
worketh  all  in  all  ;"  and  then  he  compares  the  different 
individuals  of  the  visible  church  to  different  members  of 
the  same  living  body,  teaching  that  it  was  God's  design 
"  that  there  should  be  no  schism  in  the  body."  And  to 
sum  up  all,  he  says,  "  now  ye  are  the  hody  of  Christ,  and 
members  in  particular  /"  that  is,  ye  all  together  compose  the 
body  of  Christ,  and  each  one  of  you  in  particular  is  a  mem- 
ber of  that  body :  as  if  he  W' ould  charge  them,  by  their 
strifes  and  divisions,  with  rending  the  sacred  person  of  their 
holy  Redeemer,  and  mangling  his  flesh  anew.  In  the  third 
chapter,  also,  he  urges  their  divisions  as  a  proof  of  their 
carnality,  or  earthliness  of  thought  and  feeling;  inquiring 
with  a  degree  of  vehemence,  "  For  while  one  saith,  I  am  of 
Paul ;  and  another,  I  of  Apollos;  are  ye  not  carnal?" 

In  his  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  he  beseeches  them  to 
walk  worthy  of  their  vocation,  "  with  long  suffering  ;  for- 
bearing oiiC  another  in  love  ;  endeavoring  to  keep  the  unity 
of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace ;"  reminding  them  that 
"  there  is  one  body  and  one  Spirit,"  "  one  hope  of  their 
calling,  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,  one  God  and 
Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all,  and  through  all,  and  in  you 
aU." 

By  what  more  impressive  and  powerful  appeal  could  the 
Apostle  exhort  believers  in  Christ,  to  unity  of  heart  and 
action? — One  body,  one  Spirit,  one  hope,  one  Lord,  one 
faith,  one  purification,  one  God  and  Father,  who  is  above 
all,  and  through  all,  and  in  you  all !  How  can  ye  be  di- 
vided ?  how  can  ye  rend  and  sunder  yourselves  into  many  ? 


DISCOURSES.  213 

In  the  fifth  chapter  of  Ephesians  he  ranks  divisions  or 
separations  of  believers  (dLxoGTaolai)  with  "  adultery,  for- 
nication, uncleanness,  lasciviousness,  idolatry,  witchcraft, 
hatred,  variance,  emulations,  wrath,  strife,  envyings,  mur- 
ders, drunkenness,  revelings  and  such  like,"  calling  them 
all  "  the  works  of  the  flesh." 

And,  as  if  in  allusion  to  such  instructions  as  these,  in 
the  close  of  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  he  says,  "  I  beseech 
you,  brethren,  mark  them  which  cause  divisions  and 
offences,  contrary  to  the  instruction  which  ye  have  received, 
and  avoid  them." 

The  testimony  which  has  now  been  adduced  upon  the 
subject  presented  hy  the  text,  and  which  might  be  greatly 
increased,  is  certainly  of  a  most  decided  and  remarkable 
character.  The  force  and  bearing  of  it  all  upon  the  Church 
in  our  own  day  cannot  altogether  fail  of  being  felt,  though 
no  more  should  be  said  upon  it. 

But  what  adds  greatly  to  its  force  as  applied  to  the 
Church  in  our  times,  is  the  fact  that  the  evil  which  it  re- 
bukes exists  now  in  a  degree  which  renders  that  which  ex- 
cited the  admonitions  of  the  Apostle,  in  comparison,  as 
light  as  air.  No  such  divisions  as  now  exist  amonoj  the 
people  of  Christ,  were  to  be  heard  of  then.  No  sects  rent 
the  body  of  Christ  in  fragments,  and  stood  casting  arrows 
at  each  other,  while  they  strove  with  selfish  emulation  for 
the  spoils  of  victory.  The  Church  of  Christ  was  one  and 
indivisible  :  "  many  members,  but  one  body."  It  was  not  a 
union  in  theological  opinions :  for  theology  did  not  then 
exist  as  a  science,  or  in  speculative  forms,  but  only  as  em- 
bodied in  practical  truth  and  godliness.  It  was  a  union 
founded  upon  a  simple  belief  in  Christ,  implying  obedience, 
and  evidenced  thereby.     All  who  gave  evidence  of  such  a 


214  DISCOURSES. 

belief,  were  at  once  baptized,  and  received  into  the  com- 
pany of  believers — in  other  words,  into  the  Church  visible ; 
and  this,  without  any  questioning  of  their  opinions  in  sec- 
ondary matters,  and  even  if  they  were  known  to  be  but 
partially  enlightened  and  delivered  from  error.  The  in- 
structions of  the  Apostle  were  expressly  given  to  this  effect, 
Rom.  xiv.  1 :  where  he  says,  as  the  margin,  in  part,  cor- 
rectly renders  it,  "  Him  that  is  weak  in  the  faith  receive 
ye,  not  in  judgment  of  his  doubtful  thoughts"  (or  opinions)* 
— a  reception  which  is  not  limited  by  the  Apostle,  and 
which  must  therefore  mean  a  full  reception  as  a  Christian, 
implying  admission  to  the  fellowship,  and  all  the  privileges 
of  the  Christian  Church.  Paul  had  already  said  (chap.  viii. 
14),  "  As  many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  they  are 
the  Sons  of  God  ;"  which  certainly  implies  that  every  child 
of  God  should  receive  them  altogether  as  brethren.  And 
the  history  of  the  Church,  in  the  days  of  the  Apostles  and 
immediately  following,  approves  the  interpretation  I  have 
given  ;  for  it  shows,  as  no  one  disputes,  I  believe,  that  they 
were  thus  received. 

Yet,  notwithstanding  this,  there  did  exist,  even  in  Paul's 
day,  a  disposition  in  some  to  separate  themselves  on  some 
pretext  into  distinct  classes  in  the  church — a  disposition 
which  was  the  seed  of  those  sectarian  divisions  which  af- 
terward arose,  and  Avhich  were  swallowed  up  in  part  by 
the  Romish  Church,  to  be  renewed  and  multiplied  in  our 
times. 

It  was  this   disposition   in  its   incipient   forms — in    its 

*  Bloomfield  says :  "  but  not  for  the  purpose  of  examining  and  agitating  with 
liim  doubtful  or  disputed  points;  since,  as  contempt  and  harsliness  might  urge 
him  to  apostacy,  so  to  perplex  his  mind  with  points  which  hi:3  Christian  judg- 
ment is  not  sufficiently  mature  to  enable  him  to  grapple  with,  might  drive  him 
into  skepticism."    See  also  Calvin  on  the  passage. —  [Ed. 


DISCOURSES.  215 

iirst  peepings  above  the  ground  in  the  new  garden  of 
Christ — that  roused  the  Apostle's  attention,  and  against 
which  he  hurled  the  lightning  of  his  rebuke,  that  he  might 
smite  it  as  an  evil  weed,  and  destroy  it  in  the  beginning  of 
its  growth.  But  if  the  beginning  of  this  evil  called  forth 
such  reproofs  from  his  inspired  lips,  how  wo'uld  his  soul 
glow,  and  his  words  burn,  were  he  commissioned  now  to 
look  upon  and  to  rebuke  the  sins  of  Christ's  people.  Nay, 
would  not  rather  his  mighty  heart  break  under  the  burden 
of  this  sorrow,  and  his  eloquent  lips  grow  dumb  before  the 
mairnitude  of  the  evil?  Division  carried  to  its  utmost 
length  ;  "  the  body  of  Christ"  rent  into  scores  of  frag- 
ments,* many  of  them  excluding  each  other,  engaged  in  mu- 
tual strife,  and  even  denying  to  one  another  the  name  of 
Churches ;  and  the  great  mass  of  the  Church  seeming  to 
slumber  over  the  evil,  or  even  loving  to  have  it  so  !  Oh, 
that  there  were  a  Paul  now,  to  cry  aloud  with  his  trumpet 
voice,  and  show  God's  people  their  transgression,  and  the 
house  of  Jacob  their  sin  ! 

Or,  would  that  the  Church  of  Christ  might  pause  long 
enoug-h  from  its  sectarian  strife,  to  hear  the  voice  of  its 
Redeemer  and  Lord,  pleading  with  God  in  prayer,  on  that 
sorrowful  night,  ere  the  traitor  came — "  Holy  Father,  keep 
through  thine  own  name,  those  whom  Thou  hast  given  me, 
that  they  may  he  one  as  we  are.  Neither  pray  I  for  these 
alone,  but  for  them  also  which  shall  beUeve  on  me  through 
their  word  ;  that  they  all  may  be  one  ;  as  Thou,  Father, 
art  in  me  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us  ; 
that  the  tear  Id  may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me."  The  pray- 
ers of  Christ  were  not  offered  for  a  light  matter,  least  of  all 

*  The  number  of  Christian  sects  in  the  United  States  alone,  is  upwards  of  fifty, 
and  they  are  constantly  increasing. 


216  DISCOURSES. 

that  memorable  petition  which  the  pen  of  inspiration  has 
recorded  for  the  Church  in  all  ages  to  wonder  and  weep 
over — the  prayer  of  its  dying  Lord.  The  desirableness 
of  that  visible  union  of  His  people  for  which  Christ  prayed 
as  the  means  of  impressing  His  truth  on  the  world,  and  the 
evils  of  those  divisions  against  which  the  Apostle  so  earn- 
estly exhorts,  need  to  be  better  understood  by  the  Church  ; 
for  sure  1  am,  if  they  were  understood  properly  the  lovers 
of  Christ  would  strive  for  that  unity,  and  put  away  those 
divisions. 

Neither  are  these  things  difficult  to  be  seen  or  under- 
stood. It  is  my  deep  conviction,  that  sectarianism  is  a 
prominent  cause  of  the  low  state  of  piety  among  Christians  ; 
and,  including  the  principles  which  lie  at  its  base,  the 
greatest  single  obstacle  which  exists  to  the  spread  and 
triumph  of  our  religion  in  the  world.  It  is  my  design  to 
spread  before  you  briefly  the  reasons  for  this  conviction, 
and  thus  to  urge  upon  you  the  exhortation  of  the  Apostle 
in  the  text ;  and  I  pray  Thee,  Thou  risen  and  glorified  JRe- 
deemer,  be  Thou  our  Intercessor  with  the  Father,  that  thine 
own  truth  may  prevail  with  us,  and  that  thine  own  prayer  once 
offered  in  the  fiesh  may  he  fulfilled! 

A  rapid  statement  of  the  reasons  for  holding  the  first 
proposition,  will  occupy  all  our  remaining  time  at  present 
— that  sectarianism,  or  the  division  of  the   Church   into  dif- 
ferent sects,  is  a  prominent  cause  of  the  low  state  of  piety  among 
Christians. 

First.  Because  it  gives  too  great  prominence  to  speculative 
opinions  ;   or,  in  other  ivoj^ds,  to  non-practical  truths. 

No  true  Church  of  Christ  is  separated  from  other 
churches  of  different  names,  on  the  ground  of  a  difference 
of  view,  concerning  practical  religious  duty.     It  is  a  fact, 


DISCOURSES.  217 

indeed,  which  deserves  particular  notice,  that  all  true 
branches  of  the  Church  of  Christ  recognize  the  same  practi- 
cal way  of  salvation,  and  the  same  applications  of  Gospel 
truth  to  the  relations  and  duties  of  human  life  ;  or  if  there  be 
any  difference  on  this  point,  as  may  perhaps  exist  in  rela- 
tion to  the  subject  of  slavery,  it  does  not  run  parallel  with 
denominational  lines. 

The  particular  ideas,  therefore,  on  which  tlie  different 
sects  in  the  Church  are  distinctively  based,  do  not  relate  to 
practical  religious  duty.  The  notions  which  each  sect 
holds  up  as  the  banner  of  its  division  in  the  army  of  Christ, 
do  not  refer  to  practical  piety,  or  the  moral  requirements 
of  God.  It  is  the  theory  of  election  and  perseverance  in 
one,  the  theory  of  free  gi-ace  in  another,  the  theory  of  min- 
isterial functions  in  a  third,  and  so  on,  which  are  inscribed 
on  their  party  walls. 

It  is,  then,  the  tendency  of  these  divisions  to  call  off  at- 
tention from  practical  moral  truth,  from  love  to  God  and 
love  to  man,  from  the  real  essentials  of  religion  ;  and  to  fix  it 
upon  non-practical  and  secondary  things.  And  thus  re- 
sults an  immense  injury  to  the  cause  of  religion.  The  very- 
state  of  division  holds  up  constantly  the  thing  about  which 
Christians  differ  in  a  prominent  hght,  and  so  tends  to  di- 
vert their  view  from  the  great  thmgs  about  which  they  are 
agreed ;  and  thus  these  things  lose  much  of  their  proper 
influence.  We  find  an  illustration  of  this  in  the  history  of 
the  political  parties  of  our  nation. 

About  the  great  essential  principles  of  our  Government 
both  Whigs  and  Democrats  have  ever  been  agreed ;  about 
minor  questions  of  policy  alone,  they  differ.  But  who 
ever  thinks  of  the  points  whereon  they  are  agreed  ?  It  is 
the  constant  tendency  of  party  division,  to  turn  the  whole 


218  DISCOURSES. 

attention  to  the  things  whereon  they  are  at  variance.  And 
this,  indeed,  is  one  of  the  dangers  which  party  strife  occa- 
sions to  the  existence  of  our  institutions — that  it  will  so 
absorb  the  attention  of  the  people  to  secondary  matters  of 
mere  policy,  that  cunning  and  ambitious  plotters  will  trench 
unheeded  upon  essential  principles,  till  they  shall  have 
gained  power  to  strike  down  our  liberties. 

And  just  so  it  is  in  the  Church  of  Christ.  Its  party  di- 
visions, we  trust,  will  never  destroy  its  essential  truth  ;  but 
they  tend  to  keep  it  out  of  sight,  and  to  depress  it  from  the 
position  and  influence  which  it  ought  to  have ;  and  thus 
they  depress  the  piety  of  the  Church. 

It  is  necessary  for  me  to  guard  against  one  error,  by 
which  some  might  seek  to  rebut  what  has  been  said.  There 
is  one  sect  that  separates  itself  from  other  Christians,  on 
the  ground  of  the  mode  of  baptism.  And  some  may  urge 
that  this  is  a  practical  religious  duty.  Our  limits  here  al- 
low only  a  few  words  on  this  point.  I  observe,  then : 
baptism  is  indeed  a  practical  duty ;  but  neither  the  mode 
of  baptism,  nor  baptism  at  all,  is  any  part  of  what  we  mean 
by  practical  religion  or  piety.  To  test  this  :  if  you  were 
asked  which  of  two  men  is  the  best  practical  Christian, 
you  would  try  to  find  out — what?  Why,  the  state  of 
their  hearts,  by  examining  their  lives  and  actions  ;  you 
would  never  think  of  mquiring  how  this  one  had  been 
baptized,  and  how  that ;  or  whether  either  had  been  bap- 
tized at  all — and  none  but  a  bigot  would.  However, 
therefore,  any  of  our  brethren  may  urge  the  propriety  or 
duty  of  fulfilling  Christ's  command  just  as  He  gave  it,  the 
founding  of  a  religious  sect,  or  the  basing  of  a  division  of 
the  Church,  upon  the  particular  mode  of  baptism,  is  an  ex- 
altation of  an  idea  not  belonging  to  practical  piety,  into  a 


DISCOURSES.  219 

prominence  which  tends  to  obscure  the  great  and  essential 
ideas  of  religion  itself,  and  so  to  injure  the  power  and  pro- 
gress of  religion  in  the  heart  *  The  proof  which  I  have 
given  can  hardly  be  disputed  ;  and  that  it  needs  to  be  proved, 
illustrates  the  truth  I  am  presenting.  And  I  feel  com- 
pelled to  say,  as  what  will  impress  upon  others  the  truth  I 
am  urging,  that  it  is  the  general  conviction  of  other  de- 
nominations, that  those  who  do  thus  exalt  to  undue  prom- 
inence this  secondary  matter,  are  injured  in  their  piety  by 
so  doing. 

And  how  much  the  cause  of  piety,  throughout  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  is  hurt  by  similar  acts  in  every  sect,  I  believe 
we  are  none  of  us  able  to  estimate.  But  a  great  injury  is 
evidently  done.  The  mighty  truths  of  Hfe  and  death  are 
half  hidden  from  the  eyes  of  Christians,  by  the  party  ban- 
ners which  they  are  flaunting  to  the  wind,  and  around 
which  they  have  gathered  to  contend.  The  party  cry  is 
uttered  so  frequent  and  so  loud,  that  the  still  small  voice, 
which  eternity  is  ever  uttering  to  time,  is  half  unheard. 

I  know  there  are  Christians  in  every  sect  who  are  spirit- 
ually minded,  and  from  whom  nothing  is  able  to  conceal 
or  cover  up  the  solemn  truths  of  revelation  touching  the 

*  ''  I  would  not''  says  Robert  Hall,  "  myself,  baptize  in  any  other  way  than  by 
immersion,  because  I  look  upon  immersion  as  the  ancient  mode ;  that  it  best 
represents  the  meaning  of  the  original  term  employed  and  the  substantial  im* 
port  of  this  institution,  and  because  I  should  think  it  right  to  guard  against  the 
spirit  of  innovation,  which  in  positive  rules  is  always  dangerous  and  progressive  ; 
but  I  should  not  think  myself  authorized  to  baptize  any  one  who  had  been  sprin- 
kled in  adult  age." 

We  cite  this  passage,  not  in  the  way  of  argumentum  ex  concessis,  but  as  illus- 
trating what  we  regard  as  the  principle  of  toleration  and  the  wisest  expediency 
in  things  not  fundamental,  though  important.  Those  who  have  taken  similar 
ground,  have,  if  we  mistake  not,  been  most  successful  in  the  propagation  of  their 
particular  views,— and  have  thus  shown  that  tolerance,  so  far, from  promoting 
indifference,  is  the  best  means  of  promoting  candid  inquiry  and  the  interests  of 
truth  it«elf— [Ed, 


220  DISCOURSES. 

soul's  eternal  destiny  ;  but  it  is  not  so,  unhappily,  with  the 
mass  of  professed  believers ;  they  are  not  spiritually  in- 
clined ;  and  the  visible  things  of  their  earthly  contention, 
the  things  about  which  they  differ  with  other  believers,  are 
too  prone  to  exclude  the  invisible  things  in  which  they  are 
all  agreed,  and  when  they  are  made  fences  of  division  from 
other  sects,  or  from  the  Church  universal,  they  are  the 
more  sure  to  do  it.  1  need  only  appeal  to  the  experience 
and  observation  of  my  hearers  to  confirm  what  I  am  say- 
ing. You  have  seen  this  influence  in  others,  Christian 
friends ;  and  if  you  scrutinize  your  own  religious  history 
you  will  probably  perceive  its  influence  with  yourselves. 

The  life-truths  of  God's  sacred  revelation  are  too  apt  to 
be  neglected  and  obscured  in  the  maze  of  other  truths  and 
interests  which  demand  man's  attention  ;  and  nothing,  per- 
haps, so  insidiously  prevails  to  this  end  in  the  truly  Chris- 
tian heart,  as  the  disproportionate  claims  of  other,  yet  sec- 
ondary, religious  truths.  And  when  men  separate  from 
their  Christian  brethren,  on  the  ground  of  any  of  these 
secondary  truths,  their  zeal  for  them  is  necessarily  in- 
creased by  the  attitude  they  assume,  to  the  at  least  partial 
neglect  of  those  truths  which  are  primary  and  essential. 

I  say  not,  my  friends,  that  the  sectarian  divisions  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  destroy  the  piety  of  believers ;  but  they 
tend  to  diminish  it.  Even  those  whose  hearts  are  bent  on 
spiritual  things,  and  who  are  truly  endeavoring  to  "seek 
first,"  and  to  promote  first,  "  the  kingdom  of  God  and  His 
righteousness," — even  they  are  often  wounded  and  irri- 
tated, to  their  own  spiritual  injury,  by  the  sectarian  zeal 
which  thrusts  its  unhallowed  hand  into  the  budding  vine- 
yard of  Christ,  to  seize  and  transplant  the  just  springing 
germs  of  grace,  at  the  risk  of  their  destruction,  or  by  some 


DISCOURSES.  22l 

other  exhibition  of  this  unchrist-Hke  zealotry,  perhaps  still 
more  offensive. 

And  though  the  piety  and  devotedness  of  many,  in  all 
the  Churches,  is  not  to  be  gainsayed,  nor  the  really  great 
things,  in  themselves  considered,  vv^hich  Zion  is  doing  for 
the  world,  yet  compared  with  the  standard  of  the  Gospel 
and  with  the  means  of  grace  which  God  has  given,  it  must 
be  said  that  the  piety  of  the  Church  is  strangely  and 
mournfully  feeble,  and  its  progress  slow.  And  who  can 
estimate  the  difference  that  would  soon  be  manifested,  were 
all  the  people  of  Christ  to  cast  aside  their  strifes  and  sepa- 
rations, and  unite  on  the  great  central  truths  of  the  Gos- 
pel,  the  universally  admitted  and  solemn  themes  of  our 
holy  religion  ?  How  much  more  should  we  feel  those 
mighty  truths,  and  be  influenced  by  them,  did  we  see  them 
filling  all  hearts  among  the  disciples  of  Jesus,  and  bringing 
them  together,  with  a  willing  submissal  of  secondary 
things,  to  testify  to  their  reality  and  solemn  weight. 

It  is  not  my  design  to  attack  existing  institutions,  or  to 
prescribe  at  present  any  remedy  for  the  evil.  I  would 
rather  seek  to  call  the  attention  of  those  who  love  Christ  to 
this  subject,  and  commend  it  to  your  Christian  considera- 
tion, and  your  serious  and  prayerful  inquiry. 

May  God  grant  you  a  disposition  to  look  the  evil  fairly 
in  the  face ;  and  when  you  have  scrutinized  its  features, 
and  ascertained  *its  true  character  and  influence,  may  He 
grant  to  you,  and  to  all  your  brethren  in  the  Lord,  wisdom 
and  grace  to  see  and  to  do  your  duty,  for  the  prosperity  of 
the  Church  and  the  honor  of  our  Redeemer ! 


DISCOURSE    XV. 


Eyils  of  Sectarianism. 

1  Cor.  1. 10-13:  ^' Now  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  by  the  name 
of  our  LordJesus  Christ,  that  ye  all  speak  the  same  thing, 
and  that  there  be  no  divisions  among  you ;  but  that  ye  be 
perfectly  joined  together  in  the  same  mind  and  in  the  same 
judgment.  For  it  hath  been  declared  unto  me  of  you,  my 
brethren,  by  them  which  are  of  the  house  of  Chloe,  that  there 
are  contentions  among  you.  Now  this  I  say,  that  every  one 
of  you  saith,  I  am  of  Paul;  and  I  of  Ap olios;  and  I  of 
Cephas;  and  I  of  Christ,  Is  Christ  divided  ?  Was  Paul 
crucified  for  you  ?  or  were  ye  baptized  in  the  name  of 
Paul  ?" 

In  the  discussion  of  this  subject  I  have  already  stated 
my  deep  conviction,  that  the  divisions  of  the  Christian 
Church,  as  they  now  exist,  are  a  prominent  cause  of  the 
low  state  of  piety  among  believers ;  and,  with  their  foun- 
dation principles,  the  greatest  single  obstacle,  which  now 
exists,  to  the  spread  and  triumph  of  our  religion  in  the 
world. 

And  for  the  first  of  these  propositions  one  reason  has 
been  adduced,  namely :  that  these  divisions  give  too  great 
prominence  to  those  ideas  or  truths  which  are  not  necessa- 
rily involved  in  practical  religion,  and  so  call  off  atten- 
tion from  the  great  truths  of  piety  and  moral  duty. 

Second.  A  second  reason  which  I  will  now  advance  is, 
that  it  holds  up  the  idol  of  party  ^  to  divide  the  heart  from  Christ. 


DISCOURSES.  223 

There  is  something  which  the  French  expressively  call 
esprit  da  C07ps,  or  the  spirit  of  the  body  or  party,  which 
every  man  who  has  looked  upon  life  must  have  witnessed  ; 
and,  indeed,  almost  every  man  who  has  lived,  in  our  coun- 
try, must  have  felt.  I  well  remember  how — when  a  mere 
child,  and  knowing  nothing  about  politics  except  the  names 
of  party  leaders — I  joined  in  the  cry  of  my  young  asso- 
ciates, "  Hurrah  for  Jackson  !"  And  when  the  Democratic 
party  re-elected  him  to  the  Presidency,  I  felt  elated  at  the 
triumph  of  "o^^r  side,^^  and  as  really  pleased  as  if  /  had 
gained  something.  The  mention  of  such  an  incident  may 
make  any  of  us  smile ;  but,  my  friends,  it  furnishes  an  ex- 
cellent illustration  of  the  spirit  of  party.  Human  nature 
in  the  boy  and  in  the  man  is  just  the  same.  The  man 
who  attaches  himself  to  a  party  will  feel  the  influence  of 
the  espi'it  du  corps,  the  spirit  of  party  ;  he  becomes,  in  a 
measure,  identified  with  it,  and  rejoices  in  its  triumphs  as 
though  they  were  his  own,  and  this  even  though  he  is  too> 
ignorant  to  know  the  principles  or  aims  which  it  cherishes, 
and  has  no  other  reason  for  it  than  that  it  is  his  party. 
And  this,  indeed,  is  one  form  of  the  principle  of  selfishness 
— which  is  the  essential  principle  of  all  sin. 

Now,  the  moment  you  separate  the  Church  of  Christ 
into  distinct  divisions,  you  set  up  the  idol  of  party.  Suc- 
cess or  adversity  will  no  longer  aiFect  the  mind  simply  as 
they  touch  the  cause  of  Christ,  but  they  will  be  felt,  also, 
as  affecting  "  our  side,''^  or  our  Church.  When  the  Church 
is  prosperous,  its  members  will  be  elated  at  their  gain  ;  and 
when  others  outstrip  it,  they  will  be  troubled  at  their  hu- 
miliation and  loss.  It  is  not  Christ  and  His  cause  to 
which  their  whole  thoughts  and  desires  are  now  turned  ; 
the  idol  of  party  has  been  set  up,  and  it  claims — and  rg- 


224  DISCOURSES. 

ceives — part  of  their  regard.  The  man,  I  think,  is  almost 
more  than  human,  that  can  wholly  avoid  this  influence — 
at  least,  after  he  has  been  long  identified  with  any  particu- 
lar branch  of  the  Church.  And,  let  it  be  remembered,  this 
is  not  an  influence  which  rises  up  to  affect  the  mind  only 
at  particular  periods — as  of  prosperity  or  adversity  ;  it  is 
an  influence  which  is  all  the  time  at  work.  The  idol  has 
been  set  up — to  divide  the  heart  from  the  blessed  Saviour 
and  His  holy  service ;  and  its  influence  is  as  ceaseless  as 
the  existence  of  the  cause.  And  this  party  feeling  is,  as 
we  have  seen,  very  wickedness ;  being  a  form  of  selfish- 
ness, the  essence  of  all  sin  ;  so  that  a  sinful  desire  is  blend" 
ing  continually  in  the  heart  with  its  love  to  Christ,  and 
polluting  the  worship  which  it  offers  Him. 

Great,  therefore,  is  the  injury  which  is  thus  done  to  the 
piety  of  Christ's  people.  It  casts  a  mill-stone  round  the 
neck  of  those  who  are  struggling  upwards  to  the  image  of 
their  Redeemer.  It  mingles  poison  Avith  the  streams  of 
salvation  that  flow  to  the  soul  through  the  Church,  and 
casts  a  blight  upon  its  budding  fruit.  This  is  another  way 
in  which  the  divisions  of  Christ's  Church  render  its  love 
impure,  and  depress  its  piety. 

Third.  A  further  reason  for  the  idea  I  have  advanced 
is  found  in  the  fact,  that  the  spirit  of  party  created  by  secta' 
rian  divisions  helps  to  create  or  sustain  in  existence  merely  fonnal 
characters^  in  which  little  or  no  spirit  of  piety  abides,  and  intro- 
duces false  professors  into  many  other  churches,  and  so  debases 
the  standard  of  religion  among  me)i. 

To  see  the  first  part  of  this  cause  in  the  fullness  of  its 
operation,  we  need,  perhaps  to  go  to  other  lands,  where 
Churches  are  found  from  which  the  spu'it  of  Christ  seems 
wholly  to  have  departed,  but  which  are  kept  in  existence, 
in  part,  at  least,  by  the  party  feeling  of  which  I  have  spoken. 


DISCOURSES.  225 

But  the  attentive  observer  may  see  enough  of  this  evil 
in  our  own  country.  There  are  many  churches  in  our 
land  which  have  too  little  piety  to  hold  them  together  or 
keep  them  in  existence  an  hour,  which  yet  are  sustained 
in  being  through  the  sectarian  influence  spoken  of.  If 
they  would  only  die,  if  dissolution  would  seize  and  an- 
nihilate them,  they  would  be  out  of  the  way,  and  the  chariot 
of  salvation  might  roll  on.  But  as  it  is,  they  block  its 
wheels ;  for  every  Christian  knows  that  a  formal  religion 
is  a  hardener  of  the  heart  against  the  truth.  And  not  only 
are  their  own  hearts  hardened,  but  by  maintaining  their 
existence  as  professors  of  religion,  while  yet  they  do  not 
exhibit  its  power,  they  bring  down  the  standard  of  religion 
in  the  community. 

The  same  cause  also  has,  in  my  judgment,  helped  to 
create  some  formal  churches  in  our  land  to  do  the  same 
injurious  work. 

But  whether  it  has  created  formal  churches  or  not,  it  is 
every  day  creating  foi^mal  Christians,  and  that  by  hundreds. 
Individual  churches,  in  their  sectarian  zeal  lest  others 
should  outstrip  them,  are  hurrying  into  their  enclosure 
many  who  have  not  yet  given  sufficient  evidence  of  real 
piety,  and  who  afterwards  show  that  their  hearts  have 
never  been  moulded  by  the  love  of  Christ. 

But,  it  is  a  great,  an  unspeakable  injury  to  the  cause  of 
religion,  when  the  standard  of  piety  is  thus  debased  by 
creating  unworthy  professors.  Probably  no  Christian  is 
aware  how  much  his  conscience  is  hardened  to  endure 
quietly  his  well-known  unfaithfulness,  by  the  evil  example 
of  others  who  bear  the  Christian  name.  If  God  should 
with  His  lightning  smite  every  hypocrite  out  of  the  Church, 
that  His  true  people  might  not  have  them  to  lean  upon  in 

11 


226  -  DISCOURSES. 

their  neglect  of  duty,  what  an  impulse  would  be  given  to 
their  earnestness  and  fidelity  !  But  the  party  spirit  of  sec- 
tarianism is  multiplying  false  professors  continually,  to  de- 
base the  standard  of  piety  in  the  Church,  and  hang  as  dead 
weights  upon  the  wheels  of  its  spiritual  progress.  It  is 
thus  making  religion,  in  the  eyes  of  those  who  look  at  the 
Church  as  its  exemplification,  mean  almost  nothing  at  all, 
and  is  casting  a  shadow  of  evil,  and  blowing  a  blighting 
wind,  upon  every  Christian's  soul. 

Yes,  I  charge  all  this  mischief,  the  existence  of  which 
you  all  know,  upon  the  sectarian  divisions  of  the  people  of 
Christ ;  and  let  him  deny  it  who  can.  It  is  in  fact  their 
legitimate  fruit ;  and  never,  until  men  are  wholly  sancti- 
fied, will  they  cease  to  bud  and  ripen  to  the  same. 

Fourth.  But  a  fourth  reason  for  the  conviction  I  have 
stated  is,  that  sectarianism  hinders  pi^ogress  in  the  truth.  That 
it  does  hinder  Christians  from  progressing  in  the  truth,  I 
shall  here  assume,  as  in  some  degree  a  manifest  truth,  but 
one  which  it  is  my  design  on  another  occasion  to  prove  and 
exhibit.  But,  hindering  as  it  does  progress  in  the  truth, 
sectarianism  necessarily  hinders  the  sanctification  of  be- 
lievers, since  this  must  proceed  by  the  truth.  If  the  attention 
and  zeal  of  the  Church  had  not  been  so  much  taken  up  by 
other  matters,  it  would,  long  ere  this,  have  reached  such  a 
position  in  the  understanding  of  Gospel  truth,  especially  as 
concerns  its  application  to  the  conduct  of  life,  as  would 
have  placed  the  Church  far  in  advance  of  its  present  moral 
attainments.  We  have  yet  much  to  learn  with  regard  to 
the  bearing  and  comprehension  of  the  moral  precepts  of 
Christ.  The  bearings  of  the  moral  law  upon  the  dealings 
of  man  with  man,  the  employment  of  ihe  tongue,  and  the 
aims  of  life,  have  only  begun  to  be  understood.     With  the 


DISCOURSES.  227 

Gospel  in  its  hand,  and  "  the  golden  rule"  upon  the  front- 
let that  adorns  its  brow,  the  Church  has  advanced  but  a 
little  way  in  that  course  to  which  it  is  called,  compared 
with  what  might  have  been  expected.  And  it  is  because 
it  is  kept  back  from  progress  in  the  truth,  that  it  has  made 
so  little  progress  out  of  the  corruption  of  man's  natural 
state. 

Fifth.  Another  reason  for  the  truth  urged,  which  is  one 
kindred  with  the  last,  is,  that  sectarianism  tends  to  retain  cor- 
ruption in  the  Church. 

It  does  so  because  it  creates  an  unwillingness  to  weaken 
the  Church  in  external  power  or  means,  by  casting  it  out. 

Some  sinful  practice  exists  in  a  given  Church,  or  some 
corrupt  and  corrupting  members  are  found  it  it.  When 
this  is  looked  at  in  the  light  of  the  Gospel,  every  Christian's 
conscience  prompts  to  duty.  But  now  comes  in  the  fear 
of  diminishing  the  wealth  or  numbers,  and  so  the  influence 
and  rank,  of  the  Church  as  compared  with  rival  sects, 
an  J  so  the  evil  is  tolerated — perhaps  with  the  hope  of  bet- 
ter times  in  the  future.  Is  it  not  so,  my  friends,  with  that 
dreadful  corruption  that  broods  and  festers  in  the  Churches 
of  the  South  ?  Were  there  no  rival  sects  there  to 
create  the  fear  of  being  outdone  in  wealth  and  power,  would 
not  some  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  do  their  duty  in  this 
matter  of  slavery,  and  thereby  set  a  ball  in  motion  whose 
rolling  sound  would  cause  the  fetters  to  snap  from  millions 
of  wretched  bondmen  % 

But  as  it  is,  I  think  you  may  rely  upon  it,  no  one  de- 
nomination will  begin  the  work  till  the  rest  are  ready,  or 
till  it  shall  appear  that  power  and  influence  will  follow  the 
stroke. 

And  this,  let  it  be  observed,  is  only  an  illustration  of  an 


228  DISCOURSES. 

everywhere  present  and  active  influence  for  evil.  Secta- 
rianism causes  men  to  look  at  the  external  prosperity  of  a 
Church,  and  to  prize  it  more  highly  than  they  should,  and 
so  to  sacrifice  to  it  the  dearer  interests  of  purity  and 
spiritual  growth. 

It  causes  corrupt  practices  and  corrupt  men  to  be  re- 
tained in  its  bosom,  which  ought  to  be  cast  out,  and  thus 
it  defiles  its  garments,  and  brings  leanness  upon  its  mem- 
bers. 

And  if  any  one  Church  is  free  from  a  participation  in 
this  sin,  it  is  not  therefore  free  from  the  injurious  effects 
which  this  sin  is  producing  :  for  by  lowering  the  standard 
of  piety  in  those  Churches  where  it  does  exist,  it  affects 
all  the  rest.  It  is,  indeed,  unhappily  true,  among  the  other 
unhappy  things  connected  with  this  subject,  that  the  rivalry 
which  sectarianism  produces,  does  not  include  a  rivalry  in 
spirituality  and  likeness  to  Christ ;  but  looks  rather  to  those 
matters  of  external  prosperity  which  are  often  the  greatest 
sources  of  moral  danger,  and  spiritual  injury.  And'as  it 
is  more  easy  in  the  world  to  do  evil  than  to  do  good,  so 
the  evil  example  which  sectarian  rivalry  so  ofter  begets, 
is  more  efficacious  upon  the  Church  at  large  than  would 
be  a  purer  example^  if  it  were  capable  of  producing  it. 

But  in  addition  to  what  I  have  said  concerning  the  rea- 
sons of  my  conviction,  I  will  present  another,  which  in- 
creases all  the  rest ;  and  which  is, 

Sixth.  That  the  sectarian  divisions  of  Christ's  disciples  grieve 
the  Spirit  of  God. 

The  Holy  Spirit  of  God  is  most  emphatically  a  spirit  of 
unity  and  love.  The  Apostle  beseeches  the  Ephesians  to 
"  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit ;"  that  is,  that  peaceful  and 
loving  oneness  of  mind  to  which  the  Spirit  always  prompts, 


DISCOURSES.  229 

and  which  it  always  produces  where  it  is  permitted  fully 
to  enter  and  dwell.  "  With  long-suffering,^'  says  the  Apos- 
tle, ^^  forbearing  one  another  in  love,  endeavoring  to  keep  the 
unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace.'' 

And  there  is  a  remarkable  example  offered  us  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures  of  this  very  thing.  When  the  Spirit  came 
down  in  such  mighty  power  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  so 
that  in  one  day  "  three  thousand  souls'*  were  added  to  the 
Church,  we  are  told  that  all  who  believed  "  were  together, 
and  had  all  things  common."  Such  perfect  oneness  of  heart 
was  produced  by  the  mighty  effusion  of  the  Spirit,  that  no 
believer  regarded  any  of  his  interests  as  separate  from  those 
of  his  brother  in  the  Lord. 

And  when,  after  a  few  days,  Peter  and  John  had  been 
imprisoned  and  threatened,  and,  being  let  go,  had  gone  "  to 
their  own  company  and  reported  all  that  the  chief  priests 
and  elders  had  said  unto  them ;"  and  when  they,  hearing 
that,  "  lift  up  their  voice  to  God  with  one  accord,"  we  are 
told  that  "  the  place  was  shaken  where  they  were  assem- 
bled together,  and  they  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy 
Ghost ;"  and  as  a  consequence  of  this,  it  is  said,  imme- 
diately "the  multitude  of  them  that  believed  were  of  one 
heart  and  of  one  soul ;  neither  said  any  of  them  that  aught 
of  the  things  which  he  possessed  was  his  own ;  but  they 
had  all  things  in  common." 

Here,  my  brethren,  was  "  the  unity  of  the  Spirit "  in 
perhaps  the  most  beautiful  manifestation  which  the  world 
has  seen.  I  do  not  say  that  this  community  of  goods  is  a 
necessary  manifestation  of  Christian  unity,  or  always  to  be 
desired.  I  refer  to  it  here  only  as  showing  how  perfectly 
"  all  that  beUeved  were  of  one  heart  and  one  soul." 

And  you  will  please  notice  that  this  most  remarkable 
manifestation  of  Christian  unity  took  place  when,  perhaps, 


230  DISCOURSES. 

the  mightiest  effusion  of  the  Spirit  was  granted  that  was 
ever  given  to  men.  You  will  see,  then,  the  significancy  of 
the  Apostle's  expression,  "  the  unity  of  the  Spirit."  You 
will  see  that  the  Spirit  of  God  peculiarly  and  powerfully 
prompts  to  oneness  of  heart  and  soul  among  the  people  of 
Christ. 

And  the  same  thing  is  manifested  wherever  the  Spirit  of 
God  is  poured  out.  Christians  of  various  names  forget 
their  dissensions,  and  mingle  together  in  prayers,  and  la- 
bors, and  rejoicings  ;  and  young  converts  are  filled  with 
love  to  all  the  people  of  God,  and  when  called  on  to  unite 
with  the  Church,  hardly  know  which  way  to  go,  because  by 
uniting  with  one  they  will  be  separating  themselves  from 
the  rest. 

And  so  it  is  with  every  believer.  When  your  heart  is 
filled  with  the  Spirit,  my  brother,  your  love  begins  to  flow 
forth  to  all  your  fellow-disciples.  You  think  you  never 
will  again  indulge  in  unkind  thoughts  or  feelings  toward 
any  of  them,  but  will  love  them  all  as  brethren. 

But  now  mark  the  conclusion  from  all  this.  If  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  a  Spirit  of  unity  and  love,  it  is  grieved  away  by 
disunion.  Feelings,  acts  of  variance,  and  rivalry,  and 
strife,  repel  it  from  the  heart.  It  cannot  dwell  with  jeal- 
ousy, or  contention,  or  a  spirit  of  division. 

And  such  are  the  fruits  of  the  sectarian  rendings  of  the 
Church  of  Christ.  You  know  that  it  is  so,  my  hearer. 
And  you  ought  to  know,  therefore,  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
is  continually  grieved  by  these  divisions. 

There  are  many  good  men  who  are  so  conscious  that  the 
Spirit  of  God  prompts  to  unity,  that  they  often  speak  of 
the  duty  of  loving  all  the  brethren,  and  try  to  banish  sec- 
tarian feelings ;  yet  they  at  the  same  time,  perhaps,  cling 
fast  to  every  principle  of  sectarianism,  and  will  let  nothing 


DISCOURSES.  231 

go.  And  they  will  say  to  me,  Cannot  we  have  union  of 
feeling  without  external  union  ?  (that  is,  with  external  dis- 
union.) I  answer,  No !  you  cannot — except  in  rare  in- 
stances, and  in  an  imperfect  degree.  It  is  vain  to  be  beat- 
ing off  the  leaves  of  the  tree  while  you  continually  nourish 
its  root.  And  sectarianism  is  the  "  root  of  bitterness," 
whose  acrid  and  legitimate  fruit  of  divided  hearts,  and 
jealousy,  and  strife,  doth  continually  grieve  away  the  Spirit 
of  our  God  and  Saviour,  and  leave  our  churches  in  a  com- 
parative poverty  of  grace  and  growth,  that  methinks  must 
make  the  very  heavens  groan  with  sorrow  as  they  look 
down  upon  our  dying  world. 

Up,  up !     jNIy  brother,  my  sister  in  Christ,  inquire  of 
the  Lord  concerning  this  thing.     Why  slumber  ye  here, 
while  Satan  has  entered  the  fold  of  Christ,  a  wolf  in  sheep's 
clothing,  and  is  rendin";  the  flock  ? 

Oh,  cry  to  God,  that  He  will  direct  you  and  all  the  chil- 
dren of  His  grace,  till  the  Church  of  His  holy  Son  shall  be 
purified  and  saved.  Alas,  it  is  now  "  a  house  divided  against 
itsel/r 

Oh,  pray  that  the  Lord  would  unite  it,  and  build  it  up 
in  the  truth ;  and  that  He  would  show  you  your  duty  in 
the  matter. 

The  wants  of  tlie  world  require  a  holy  and  united  Church, 

I  have  not  attempted  to  dictate  to  you,  my  brethren, 
what  your  duty  is.  I  have  attempted,  for  the  present,  no 
prescripdon  for  the  evil  I  have  described.  I  would  only 
set  your  minds  to  thinking,  and  your  hearts  to  feeling,  be- 
lieving that  if  you  ask  wisdom  of  God,  He  will  give  liber- 
ally and  upbraid  you  not. 

May  the  Lord  direct  your  minds  to  the  proper  under- 
standing of  His  truth,  to  the  glory  of  His  grace  through 
Christ. 


DISCOURSE    XYI. 


Evils  of  Sectarianism. 

Rom.  XVI.  17 ;  1  Cor.  xii.  13 ;  Ps.  cxxxii.  1 ;  1  Cor.  iii.  3 ; 
Eph.  iv.  1,  2,  3  ;  Phil.  i.  4;  5  ;  Eph.  ii.  13,  20,  21.  ''Now 
I  beseech  you,  brethren,  mark  them  which  cause  divi- 
sions and  offences,  contrary  to  the  doctrines  which  ye  have 
learned,  and  avoid  them^  ''For  by  one  Spirit  are  we  all 
baptized  into  one  body.^^  "Behold  how  good  and  how 
pleasant  it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell  together,  in  unity.'''' 
"  Whereas  there  is  among  you  envying  and  strife,  and  di- 
visions, are  ye  not  carnal,  and  walk  as  men  ?"  "  I  there- 
fore beseech  you  that  ye  walk  worthy  of  the  vocation  where- 
with ye  are  called,  forbearing  one  another  in  love,  endeav- 
oring to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace.^"* 
"  In  Christ  Jesus,  ye  who  sometime  were  far  off,  are  made 
nigh  ;  and  are  built  upon  the  foundation,  of  the  Apostles 
and  prophets,  Christ  Himself  being  the  chief  corner  stone  : 
in  whom  all  the  building,  ftly  framed  together,  groweth 
unto  an  holy  temple  in  the  Lord^ 

We  are  all  well  enough  acquainted  with  the  condition 
of  the  Church  of  Christ,  to  know  that  it  has  not  heeded  the 
beseeching  of  the  Apostle.  Instead  of  "  avoiding,"  that  is, 
turning  away  from,  not  listening  to,  those  who  cause  "  di- 
visions and  offences,  contrary  to  the  doctrine"  of  love  and 
forbearance,  which  is  the  distinguishing  theme  and  spirit  of 
Gospel  instructions,  the  Church  seems  rather  to  have  turned 
with  greedy  ear  to  every  one  who  has  invented  a  new  shib- 
boleth of  division,  and  proclaimed  a  new  sword  of  offence, 


DISCOURSES.  233 

with  which  to  smite  and  sunder  the  flock  of  the  Great  Shep- 
herd. No  longer  are  we  baptized,  that  is,  purified,  by  one 
spirit  into  one  body  ;  but  our  spiritual  baptism  or  purifi- 
cation falls  far  short  of  this.  Separation  of  heart.  Isola- 
tion of  interests,  every  one  for  himself,  is  man's  natural 
condition ;  and  the  work  of  the  Spirit  in  destroying  this 
separateness  only  avails  to  bring  a  few  together,  here  and 
there  in  bunches,  leaving  them  almost  equally,  and  some- 
times even  more,  separate  from  all  the  rest. 

Instead  of  the  goodness  and  the  pleasantness  of  brethren 
dwelling  together  in  unity,  is  seen  the  mischief  and  sad- 
ness of  brethren  dwelling  apart  in  variance.  And  these 
things  are  an  evidence  not  so  much  of  zeal  for  supposed 
truth,  even  where  they  are  caused  by  it,  as  of  carnality,  or 
earthliness  of  mind  :  because  if  the  minds  of  believers  were 
truly  and  in  all  things  spiritual,  they  would  so  see  and  feel 
the  great  and  paramount  oneness  of  all  that  are  Christ's  as 
to  banish  these  divisions. 

There  is  need,  then,  that  in  imitation  of  the  Apostle,  I 
should  press  upon  my  Christian  hearers  the  duty  of  mu- 
tual love  and  forbearance  with  all  true  Chistians,  "  en- 
deavoring to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit,"  not  with  out- 
ward disunion  and  strife,  but  with  that  outward  allowance 
and  fellowship  which  is  "  the  bond  of  peace."  For,  indeed, 
when  in  Christ  Jesus  men  are  brought  nigh  to  God,  they 
must,  as  has  been  beautifully  said  by  some  one,  approach 
each  other.  And  thus,  being  built  upon  the  foundation 
which  God  has  laid,  of  which  Christ  is  the  corner-stone, 
shall  ^'- all  the  building,  fitly  framed  together'^ — not  unfitly 
rent  in  fragments,  rising  sharp  and  jagged  here  and  there, 
but  "  fitly  framed  together," — "  grow  unto  an  holy  temple 
in  the  Lord." 

11* 


234  DISCOURSES 

The  great  and  manifold  injury  done  to  the  piety  of  the 
Church  by  its  prevalent  divisions,  I  have,  according  to  my 
ability,  held  up  to  your  notice. 

Most  of  the  causes,  also,  which,  from  this  source  ob- 
struct the  piety  of  the  Church,  operate  additionally  and 
directly  to  hinder  its  advancement  in  the  world  ;  and  they 
do  further  very  powerfully  hinder  the  latter  5?/  injuring  the 
former. 

In  addition,  therefore,  to  the  injury  which  has  already 
been  pointed  out,  1  have  expressed  it  as  my  deep  convic- 
tion, after  long  looking  at  the  subject,  that  sectarianism, 
with  the  principles  which  lie  at  its  base,  is — 

II.  The  greatest  single  obstacle  which  now  exists  to  the  spread 
and  triumph  of  Christianity  among  men. 

If  this  proposition  seem  strained  and  incredible  to  your 
ears,  my  friends,  to  gain  from  you  a  hearing  for  the  proof 
by  which  I  mean  to  support  it,  I  need  only  say — what  you 
will  all  admit — that  the  religion  of  Christ,  which  is  "  the 
wisdom  and  power  of  God  to  salvation,"  is  adequate  to 
save  the  world,  if  it  were  but  properly  felt,  exhibited,  and 
enforced  by  those  who  profess  it ;  and  whatever  therefore 
most  hinders  the  people  of  Christ  from  such  a  realization 
and  enforcement  of  the  truth  is  indeed  the  greatest  obsta- 
cle to  its  advancement.  That  this  obstacle  is  found  in  sec- 
tarianism, and  the  principles  which  lie  at  its  base,  I  shall 
endeavor  to  show,  by  the  evidences  already  indicated. 
And  in  support  of  my  proposition  I  observe,  sectarianism 
operates  to  this  end — 

First,  By  holding  up  the  differences  among  Christians  too 
prominently  before  the  ivorld,  as  compared  ivith  the  great  truths 
upon  which  they  are  agreed. 

The  tendency  of  Church  divisions  to  give  prominence  to 
those  secondary  ideas  which  are  the  grounds  of  separation, 


DISCOURSES.  235 

we  have  already  noticed,  and  illustrated  by  the  influence  of 
political  parties  in  our  nation,  where  all  of  every  party 
agree  on  those  fundamental  truths  of  government,  which 
are  greater  than  the  questions  of  policy  about  which  they 
differ.  The  prominence  thus  given  to  secondary  religious 
ideas  tends  to  obscure,  as  we  have  seen,  the  greater  and 
essential  truths  of  Christianity  even  to  the  minds  of  be- 
lievers, and  so  to  diminish  the  earnestness  and  piety  of  the 
Church.  But  if  it  has  this  obscuring  and  hurtful  effect 
with  those  who  are  in  some  degree  lovers  of  the  truth,  how 
much  more  with  those  who  are  not.  What  Christian  in 
the  land,  but  knows  something  of  the  disposition  of  the 
natural,  unrenewed  mind  to  divert  its  attention  from  the 
great  duty  of  submission  to  God, — repentance  and  faith 
in  Christ, — and  from  the  awful  truths  of  eternity  by  which 
this  duty  is  enforced, — on  any  pretext  which  it  can  find  for 
this  purpose,  and  especially  when  it  can  find  some  connect- 
ed but  unessential  idea  at  which  to  boggle  and  halt  ?  And 
sectarianism  is  forever  furnishing  such  ideas  in  profusion ; 
and  not  only  furnishing  them,  but  thrusting  them  with 
might  and  main  in  the  face  of  every  man  who  hears  the 
truth  and  turns  for  a  moment  to  notice  it. 

And  even  where  there  is  an  honest  desire  to  seek  the 
truth,  this  enemy  of  Christ  and  ally  of  the  devil  is  ready 
at  hand,  to  bawl  its  great  banner  cry  so  loud  in  the  ear, 
that  the  voice  of  eternity  cannot  be  heard.  It  is  becoming 
a  common  thing  even  noAV,  for  men,  who  by  attendance 
on  protracted  religious  meetings  have  had  their  interest 
awakened  in  the  great  subject,  and  are  beginning  to  ponder 
the  question  of  life  and  death,  to  get  disgusted  by  the  thrust- 
ing forth  of  some  argument  about  baptism,  or  other  secon- 


236  DISCOURSES. 

dary  and  unessential  matter,  so  as  to  turn  away  from  the 
whole  subject  of  religion  with  contempt.* 

And  this  horrible  fact  is  an  illustration  of  the  influence 
which  sectarianism,  in  all  its  forms,  is  continually  exerting 
upon  the  better  disposed  class  of  minds  that  have,  under 
the  Gospel,  some  tendency  seriously  to  consider  religious 
truth. 

And  that  it  has  this  influence,  I  appeal  to  facts.  How 
often  does  the  newly  converted  man  say,  that  the  great 
thing  which  has  kept  him  back  from  religion  has  been  the 
divisions  among  Christians !  And  how  many  times  have 
you  heard  this  objection  in  the  mouths  of  the  impenitent, 
if  you  have  talked  with  them  and  urged  them  to  attend  to 
their  spiritual  concerns. 

I  am  not  saying  that  this  is  a  just  or  reasonable  plea,  or 
one  that  will  excuse  them  in  God's  sight.  Our  subject  is, 
not  what  ought  to  be,  but  what  is.  What  influence  is 
sectarianism  exerting,  and  calculated  to  exert,  upon  the 
advancement  of  Christ's  Kingdom  in  the  world? 

But  there  is  another  influence  in  the  same  direction  which 
we  have  not  noticed ;  or  rather,  it  is  the  same  influence 
acting  upon  a  different  class  of  minds.  It  strengthens  in- 
fidels, and  confirms  doubters. 

All  those,  in  whose  minds  doubt  or  disbelief  is  fixed,  con- 
cerning the  great  ideas  of  judgment  and  retribution  taught 
by  Christianity,  find  comfort  and  courage  in  their  unhappy 

*  Isaac  Taylor,  on  the  supposition  that  the  accomplished  author  of  the  trea- 
tise "  On  the  Sublime"  should  read  a  certain  letter  of  Dionysius  of  Alexandria 
respecting  a  point  then  in  dispute,  well  remarks :  "  Must  we  not  regard  Longinus 
as  almost  excused,  if  he  had  cast  away  the  epistle  of  Dionysius  with  indignant 
scorn,  and  have  said,  'Is  this  your  vaunted  Christianity.  Is  it  to  maintain  this 
system  of  servile  frivolity  that  you  die  at  the  stake  ?  Do  you  ask  me  to  become 
a  Christian  ?  a«  well  turn  Jew ;  and  how  much  better  remain  philosopher  I'  " — 
Fanaticism ;  Of  the  Symbol. 


DISCOURSES.  287 

position  by  looking  at  the  variant  attitudes  which  believers 
assume  towards  each  other. 

And,  indeed,  these  opposing  attitudes  have  a  voice  of  lies 
and  mischief,  not  only  to  unbelievers  but  to  the  whole  world. 
They  say,  in  effect,  the  salvation  of  the  soul  is  not  a  mat- 
ter of  so  much  importance  that  we  can  subordinate  our 
doctrine  of  baptism,  or  of  Divine  decrees,  or  our  claims  of 
authority  in  the  Church,  in  order  to  promote  it  by  co- 
operation. 

And  the  error  and  mischief  of  such  a  declaration  unbe- 
lievers will  not  only  fully  apprehend,  but  will  magnify. 
And  the  influence  of  such  a  position  on  the  part  of  Chris- 
tians, in  causing  men  to  reject  the  truth  and  demands  of 
Christ,  is  immense.  For,  indeed,  the  number  is  not  small 
of  those  who  are  doubting  or  denying  the  solemn  teachings 
of  Christianity  concerning  the  future.  They  abound  in 
every  Sabbath  congregation  in  our  country,  and  out  of  the 
congregations  the  whole  land  is  full  of  them ;  and  they  are 
encouraged  in  their  doubts  and  strengthened  in  their  de- 
nials by  the  divisions  of  those  who  believe. 

It  might  be  thought,  indeed,  that  the  divisions  of  Chris- 
tians on  minor  points  would  render  their  agreement  on  the 
great  doctrines  of  the  Bible  a  more  serious  and  weighty  at- 
testation of  their  truth.  And  if  those  differences  were  not 
made  so  much  more  of  by  the  Church  than  this  agreement, 
it  would  be  so.  But  when  Christians  themselves  thus 
prominently  thrust  up  the  former  before  men's  eyes  and 
subordinate  the  latter,  they  need  not  wonder  if  men  who 
love  not  the  solemn  truth  will  take  advantage  of  it. 

Closely  allied,  also,  to  this  influence  of  which  I  have  been 
speaking,  is  the  tendency  of  that  party  spirit  which  by  these 
divisions  is  created  in  the  Church.     The  existence  of  such 


238  DISCOURSES. 

a  spirit  I  have  previously  pointed  out.  If  there  is  any- 
individual  in  the  Church,  who  does  not  perceive  its  exis- 
tence and  operation,  I  can  assure  him  that  such  is  not  the 
case  with  most  of  those  who  stand  outside.  They  are 
abundantly  keen-sighted  to  perceive  it,  if  not  also  evil-eyed 
to  magnify  it.  And  what  a  hardening  and  awful  influence 
it  must  exert  upon  them.  The  wily  manoeuvers  of  secta- 
rian zeal,  the  ad  captandum  appeals,  the  flattering  atten- 
tions to  children  and  youth,  inflating  them  with  the  idea 
that  they  are  wiser  than  their  pious  parents  and  all  their 
other  teachers — these  works  of  the  devil  in  the  Church, 
which  I  have  seen — O  God !  have  not  unbelievers  seen 
them  too  ?  and  have  they  not  been  learning  to  scorn  Thy 
name.  Thou  holy  Jesus,  as  if  Thou  couldst  be  the  author 
of  such  things  ? 

Who  can  measure  the  mischief  and  the  ruin  which  this 
spirit  of  party,  which  its  very  selfishness,  the  essence  of  all 
wickedness,  thus  by  the  contrivance  of  Satan  brought  into 
the  Church,  and  bringing  dishonor  upon  its  truth — who  can 
measure  the  mischief  and  ruin  it  has  wrought  upon  those 
who  have  witnessed  it,  and  learned  to  disbelieve  and  dis- 
regard the  great  realities  of  Christ's  Gospel,  if  not  to  con- 
temn His  name? 

But  before  we  dismiss  the  point  upon  which  we  have  been 
engaged,  we  must  look  at  its  bearing  in  another  direction. 
There  is  a  false  Church  in  the  world,  calling  itself  Chris- 
tian, yet  called  by  the  word  of  God  ^^the  mother  of  harlots 
and  abominations  in  the  earth?''  Without  raising  the  ques- 
tion, how  many  of  its  deluded  children  may  yet  be  accept- 
ed in  the  sight  of  that  God,  who  looks  through  all  the  forms 
of  ignorance  and  error  which  circumstance  have  thrown 
around,  to  the  heart  that  dwells  within,  it  is  a  deeply  in- 


DISCOURSES.  239 

teresting  inquiry,  How  shall  they  be  reached  by  the  pure 
Gospel  of  Christ,  and  their  hearts  be  opened  to  receive  it  ? 
Their  number  is  so  great  as  to  make  this  a  momentous 
question  to  all  true  Christians. 

The  Pope,  who  certainly  has  the  best  means  of  judging, 
is  said  to  estimate*  the  Avhole  number  of  his  church  mem- 
bers at  two  hundred  millions.  But  deducting  one-sixth  of 
this  number,  or  thirty-three  millions,  for  those  who  are 
really  infidels  in  the  Church,  and  for  errors  of  calculation, 
we  have  remaining  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven  millions. 

Better  to  understand  how  great  a  multitude  this  is,  let 
us  compare  the  number  of  members  in  the  whole  Protest- 
ant Christian  Church.  The  whole  number  of  inhabitants 
in  nominally  Protestant  countries  is  set  down  at  about 
eighty-two  millions.*  Twenty-one  millions  of  these  be- 
long to  the  United  States.  Out  of  these,  however,  only 
about  three  millions  are  church  members  ;  but  callinor  the 
number  three  and  one  half  millions,  they  are  one-sixth  of 
the  whole.  Calculating  the  proportion  of  acting  church 
members  to  the  wdiole  population  the  same  throughout 
Protestant  Christendom,  it  gives  one-sixth  of  eighty-two, 
or  tliirteen  and  two-thirds  millions  for  the  whole.  Twelve 
times  this  number  are  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  millions, 
or  three  millions  less  than  our  estimated  number  of  Koman 
Catholics.  That  is  to  say,  for  every  Protestant  church 
member  throughout  the  world  there  are  twelve  members  of 
the  Papal  Church. 

The  question,  then,  how  they  are  to  be  evangelized,  is 
one  of  immense  moment  to  the  Church.  We  have  been 
considering  the  detriment  done  to  the  spread  of  Gospel  re- 
ligion in  the  world  by  the  divisions  of  Christians,  as  hold- 

*  Baird's  Christ.  Retros.  and  Reg.  Pages  198  and  197. 


240  DISCOURSES. 

ing  up  too  prominently  before  men  the  secondary  things 
about  which  they  differ.  But  the  bearing  of  this  evil  upon 
all  the  efforts  that  we  are  making,  or  can  make,  to  en- 
lighten the  childi'en  of  the  Pope,  is  incalculable. 

It  is  the  powerful  argument  of  the  Romish  priest  with 
his  followers  :  "  There  is  no  peace  or  rest  out  of  the  bosom 
of  our  Holy  Mother.  Protestants  are  divided  into  innu- 
merable nSects,  at  war  with  each  other  ;  and  if  you  leave 
the  Church  you  cannot  tell  where  to  go.  All  this  division, 
and  strife,  and  danger,  are  the  inevitable  result  of  forsaking 
the  only  true  and  infallible  Church  of  St.  Peter."* 

This  is  an  argument,  my  friends,  which  it  may  be  very 
easy  to  answer  to  our  own  satisfaction  ;  but  it  is  hard  to 
answer  it  to  the  conviction  of  the  Papist. 

*  The  following  passage  from  the  most  triumphant  work  of  the  Komanists,  the 
"  Variations  of  Protestantism,"  is  a  fair  specimen  of  their  argument.  With  slight 
alterations  it  might  be  retorted  against  the  Romanists, — but  ifc  would  be  only  so 
much  the  more  true  as  against  the  Protestants. —  [Ed. 

"  The  perverseness  of  heretics  will  be  a  great  and  instructing  spectacle  to  the 
humble  of  heart.  They  will  learn  to  despise  the  knowledge  which  puffs  up,  and 
that  eloquence  which  dazzles ;  and  the  talents  which  the  world  admires  will  ap- 
pear to  them  of  little  value,  when  they  see  such  vain  curiosities,  such  caprices  in 
learned  men,  such  dissimulation,  such  artifices  in  the  most  polite  writers ;  so 
much  vanity  and  ostentation,  such  dangerous  illusions  amongst  those  called  men 
of  wit ;  and  finally,  so  much  arrogance  and  passion,  and  consequently  so  many 
and  so  manifest  errors,  in  men  that  appear  great,  because  they  are  followed  by 
the  crowd.  They  will  deplore  the  errors  of  the  human  mind,  and  be  convinced 
that  the  only  remedy  for  these  great  evils  is  to  break  off  all  attachment  to  pri- 
vate judgment,  for  this  it  is  which  distinguishes  Catholic  from  Heretic.  The 
property  of  the  Heretic,  that  is,  of  one  who  has  a  particular  opinion,  is,  to  be 
wedded  to  his  own  conceits:  the  property  of  the  Catholic,  that  is,  universal,  is 
to  prefer  the  general  sense  of  the  whole  Church  to  his  own  sentiments;  this  is 
the  grace  for  which  we  shall  petition  in  behalf  of  those  that  err.  We  shall,  how- 
ever, be  filled  with  a  salutary  and  holy  awe,  when  we  contemplate  the  danger- 
ous and  slippery  temptations  with  which  God  tries  His  Church,  and  the  judg- 
ments which  He  exercises  on  her ;  nor  shall  we  cease  to  pour  forth  prayers  to 
obtain  for  her  pastors  equally  enlightened  and  exemplary,  since  it  is  through 
want  of  them  that  the  flock,  which  has  been  redeemed  at  so  great  a  price,  haa 
been  so  universally  ravaged." — Preface.,  §  29. 


DISCOURSES.  241 

And  it  never  can  be  so  answered,  by  proclaiming  with 
our  tongues  the  essential  unity  of  Protestants,  while  our 
actions  still  more  loudly  proclaim  their  diversity. 

So  much,  my  friends,  as  regards  the  hurtful  influence  of 
sectarianism  upon  the  advancement  of  religion,  by  dispro- 
portionately magnifying  its  secondary  ideas. 

But  it  has  a  similar  effect  (secondly)  hij  dividing  the  exter- 
nal means  of  the  Church. 

Obstacles  aside,  the  progress  of  the  Gospel,  under  God, 
depends,  first,  on  the  piety  of  the  Church  ;  and  second,  on 
the  means  which  it  has  to  employ.  Granting  that  the 
piety  of  the  Church  were  in  no  way  injured  by  secta- 
rianism, yet  are  its  means  divided,  and  so  wasted  and 
weakened. 

Some  argue,  indeed,  that  the  means  of  the  Church  are 
increased  by  division  ;  since  individuals  are  often  stimu- 
lated by  it  to  greater  exertion  and  more  liberal  giving.  But 
while  this  latter  is  true,  the  inference  made  from  it  is 
not  true. 

For,  first,  in  reference  to  pecuniary  means :  we  must 
take  into  account  not  only  how  much  is  raised,  but  how 
economically  and  effectively  it  is  expended. 

Suppose  in  a  certain  village  all  the  followers  of  Christ 
sufficiently  harmonious  in  Christian  purposes  and  feelings, 
to  unite  together  for  religious  worship  and  mutual  edifica- 
tion. They  are  able  comfortably  to  build  a  house  of  wor- 
ship ample  for  all  their  wants,  and  competently  to  support 
a  Gospel  laborer  in  a  manner  which  allows  him  leisure  and 
means  for  necessary  culture.  The  pecuniary  ability  of 
such  a  people,  we  may  say,  is  well  directed. 

But  suppose  another  village,  similar  in  all  respects  to 
the  former,  except  that  the  people  of  Christ  are  divided, 


242  DISCOURSES. 

preferring  different  names — some  being  of  Paul,  others  of 
Apollos.  Roused  by  emulation,  they  contribute  a  larger 
sum  than  the  people  of  the  former  place  ;  but  it  is  not  so 
well  expended.  Two  houses  of  worship  are  built,  yet  bur- 
dening the  two  churches  with  debt,  and  perhaps  imper- 
fectly finished.  Two  ministers  are  employed,  yet  each  with 
a  salary  insufficient  for  his  physical  and  especially  for  his 
mental  wants,  so  that  he  comes  to  his  people,  week  by  week, 
with  the  product  of  a  starved  and  care-burdened  mind,  to 
their  own  intellectual  and  spiritual  loss. 

Now,  to  say  nothing  of  the  comparative  inability  of  such 
a  people  to  contribute  to  the  Gospel  abroad,  it  is  evident 
that  their  larger  means  are  ill-spent  and  wasted,  and  pro- 
ductive of  less  good  than  was  attained  in  the  former  case. 

But  again,  it  is  not  money  alone  which  constitutes  the 
means  of  the  Church  ;  it  is  men  also — men  of  piety  and 
talent  sufficient  to  labor  well  in  the  Gospel  ministry,  and 
in  other  ways  to  promote  the  spread  of  truth  and  right- 
eousness. The  cases  already  supposed  will  illustrate  the 
waste  of  the  Chm-ch's  means  in  this  direction,  caused  by 
the  spirit  of  sect.  In  the  first  case,  the  life  of  one  man  is 
well  and  profitably  used  by  the  Church,  and  the  other  is 
spared  for  another  needy  field  ;  but  in  the  latter  case,  the 
lives  of  two  men  are  absorbed,  and  each  half  wasted  or 
destroyed. 

And  of  such  cases  as  this  latter,  my  friends,  both  as  to 
men  and  money,  this  Christian  land  is  full.  Only  I  have 
not  stated  the  evil  half  so  great  as  it  is.  Instead  of  two 
churches,  there  are  four,  and  five,  and  six,  where  one 
would  be  sufficient,  in  multitudes  of  instances,  all  over  the 
country.  Instead  of  five  or  six  churches  in  Elgin,  one 
could  be  built,  for  less  than  half  the  means,  amply  sufficient 


DISCOURSES.  243 

for  the  use  of  all ;  and  two  Gospel  ministers,  laboring  to- 
gether, would  be  more  efficient,  both  as  preachers  and  as 
pastors,  than  five  can  be,  divided — and  the  rest  might  go  to 
the  heathen.  Oh !  the  waste,  the  waste  of  energy  and 
means,  of  which  the  Church  is  guilty,  from  this  cause, 
while  the  world  in  ignorance  and  sin  is  perishing ! 

But  I  have  something  else  to  say,  about  this  alleged  in- 
crease of  means  which  sectarianism  produces.  Allowing, 
indeed,  the  overruling  power  of  God,  yet  I  hold  it  as  a 
general  axiom,  that  the  true  prosperity  of  the  Church  is 
only  in  proportion  to  the  effort  which  is  put  forth  from 
pure  motives.  "  My  kingdom,"  said  Jesus,  "  is  not  of  this 
world  ;"  and  He  said  to  Peter,  "Put  up  thy  sword."  The 
use  of  the  civil  power  by  the  Church  has  been  one  of  its  great 
.  corrupters  in  past  times.  "  The  weapons  of  our  warfare," 
said  Paul,  "  are  not  carnal ;"  and  when  carnal  weapons  are 
used,  they  tend  to  corruption.  But  what  is  sectarian  or 
party  zeal,  and  the  money  that  it  contributes,  but  carnal 
weapons'? — which  cannot  promote  the  cause  of  pure  re- 
ligion. 

No !  the  spirit  of  sect  does  but  divide  and  waste  the  real 
means  of  the  Church,  and  long  postpone  the  day  of  its 
triumph. 

But  before  closing,  let  us  notice  one  more  way  in  which 
sectarianism  operates  to  this  end : 

(Thirdly.)  Bij  giving  power  to  errorists ;  or,  those  wlw  deny 
or  pervert  the  essential  practical  truths  of  the  Gospel, 

You  will  be  surprised,  perhaps,  to  hear  me  say  this.  It 
is  in  order  to  condemn  error,  that  many  good  men  have 
thought  it  necessary  to  separate  from  theu*  brethren.  But 
this  is  one  illustration  of  the  Apostle's  words,  that  "  the 
foolishness  of  God  is  wiser  than  men."     Like  Saul  of  old, 


244  DISCOURSES. 

who  disobediently  spared  the  cattle  of  Amalek,  that  he 
might  offer  sacrifice  to  God,  they  have  disobeyed  the  Di- 
vine command  to  mutual  love,  forbearance,  and  unity,  that 
they  might  preserve  His  truth,  though  in  non-essential 
matters ;  and  in  so  doing  they  have  done  more  to  encour- 
age and  embolden  vital  error  than  all  the  enemies  of  God 
could  ever  do  ;  while  all  that  they  have  done  for  the  truth, 
or  for  their  distinguishing  ideas,  is  to  give  them  the  poor 
support  of  their  human  authority,  contradicted  by  the  sim- 
ilarly rendered  human  authority  of  thousands  of  others,  of 
probably  equal  moral  weight. 

But  how  is  this,  you  will  ask,  that  they  embolden  essen- 
tial errorists?  I  answer,  among  the  multitude  of  sects 
thus  created,  they  stand  up  with  greater  holdness  and  power. 

If  all  the  true  lovers  of  Christ,  subordinating  minor  dif- 
ferences and  putting  aside  their  sectarian  array,  were  "  of 
one  heart  and  of  one  mind "  on  the  great  themes  of  the 
Gospel,  which  are  truths  of  Ufe  and  death,  they  would  ex- 
ert a  moral  power  that  would  be  almost  irresistible,  and  no 
pestilent  error  could  stand  before  them.  But  now  their 
moral  power  is  weakened,  not  only  by  division,  but  also  by 
mutual  opposition,  till  scarcely  anything  of  it  remains  ;  and 
the  denier  of  every  fundamental  verity  of  Christ's  religion, 
proclaiming  his  impunity  in  sin  and  the  efficacy  of  his  hol- 
low forms,  stands  boldly  by  the  side  of  other  sects,  and  ex- 
claims, "  Lo  !  how  we  apples  swim !" 

The  Church,  by  its  divisions,  has  lost  the  signet  which 
its  Master  designed  it  to  wear,  and  its  power  to  testify  for 
Him,  and  proclaim  with  authority  to  the  world  "  the  true 
and  living  way."  It  is  true  that  the  sects  thus  seek  to  do 
still,  but  the  world  cannot  so  readily  distinguish  amid  the 
voices,  and  discern  the  true.     Men  of  every  hue  of  char- 


DISCOURSES.  245 

acter,  and  of  every  conglomerate  of  monstrous  ideas,  may 
now  stand  up  and  claim  the  Christian  name,  and  there  is 
no  moral  power  in  the  Church  to  cry  scorn  upon  them  till 
the  world  shall  hear.  Thus  is  the  cause  of  our  Redeemer 
kept  back,  by  the  power  which  is  given  to  wicked  men  to 
usurp  His  name  and  lead  souls  astray.  Thus  does  the 
rending  of  Christ's  body  destroy  its  growth,  and  leave  men 
to  perish  in  their  sin. 

Is  it  not  time  that  the  Church  should  awake  to  the  mis- 
chief it  is  doing  itself,  by  its  human  wisdom,  in  disobe- 
dience to  the  commands  of  Christ  its  Lord  ?  Is  it  not  time 
it  should  be  willing  to  sacrifice  all  unessential  things,  rather 
than  lose  the  "  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace," 
and  the  moral  power  of  a  holy  and  united  people  ?  Is  it 
not  time  to  cease  their  mutual  strife,  that  so  "  all  the  build- 
ing, fitly  framed  together^''  may  grow  "  unto  an  holy  temple 
in  the  Lord  ?" 


DISCOURSE    XVII 


Evils  of  Sectarianism. 

1  Cor.  XII.  24,  25,  26,  27  ;  Eph.  vi.  4  ;  John  xiii.  35  ;  Gal.  v.  15; 
1  Cor.  iii  4  ;  1  John  iv.  21  ;  1  John  iii.  18.  ^'■God  hath  tempered 
the  body  together,  that  there  should  he  no  schism  in  the  body  ; 
hut  that  the  members  should  have  the  same  care  one  for  anoth- 
er. And  whether  one  member  suffer,  all  the  members  suffer 
vnth  it ;  or  one  member  he  honored,  all  the  members  rejoice  with 
it.  Now  ye  are  the  body  of  Christ,  and  members  in  particu- 
lar.'''' "  There  is  one  body,  and  one  spirit ;  even  as  ye  are  call- 
ed in  one  hope  of  your  calling.''^  "  JBy  this  shall  all  men  know 
that  ye  are  my  disciples,  if  ye  have  love  one  to  another.''^ 
"But  if  ye  bite  and  devour  one  another,  take  heed  that  ye  be 
not  consumed  one  of  another. ^^  "  While  one  saith,  I  am  of 
Paul ;  and  another,  I  am  of  Ap olios  ;  are  ye  not  carnal  P^ 
"  This  commandment  have  we  from  Him,  that  he  who  loveth 
God,  loveth  his  brother  also.''''  "My  little  children,  let  us  not 
love  in  word,  neither  in  tongue,  but  in  deed  and  in  truth.''"' 

Vain,  useless — nay,  false,  is  that  love  which  does  not 
manifest  itself  in  love's  appropriate  action.^  If  divisions 
among  the  people  of  Christ  are  the  fruit  and  the  evidence 
of  carnality  of  mind,  and  tend  to  pull  down  rather  than  to 
build  up  ;  if  there  is  one  body  as  well  as  one  spirit,  and  that 
the  body  of  Christ,  of  which  all  Christians  are  members  in 
particular ;  and  if  God  hath  tempered  the  body  together, 
designing  that  there  should  be  no  schism  therein,  but  that 


DISCOURSES.  247 

part  should  balance  pai%  with  mutual  care  and  sympathy, 
working  together  for  the  greatest  results, — then  it  is  plain 
what  the  appropriate  action  of  brotherly  love  is,  or  at  least, 
involves;  and  how  the  people  of  Christ  should  evidence 
to  the  world  that  they  are  His  disciples.  Thus  have  the 
passages  of  Scripture  now  read  introduced  to  us  a  fourth 
principle,  showing,  by  opposition,  how  sectarianism  keeps 
back  the  triumph  of  the  Gospel  by  hiding  and  depressing  the 
essential,  peculiar  spirit  of  Christ  and  His  religion,  and  weak- 
ening its  self-evidencing  power  before  the  tvorld. 

The  spirit  of  this  world  is  one  of  selfishness — as  all  men 
know — manifesting  itself  more  or  less  in  a  spirit  of  rivalry 
and  contention.  At  least,  these  are  the  legitimate  exercise 
of  the  natural  temper  of  man's  heart.  But  the  spirit  of 
Christ  and  His  Gospel,  on  the  other  hand,  is  a  spirit  of  love, 
wholly  opposed  to  rivalry  or  selfish  contention  in  any  of 
its  forms.  And  this  spirit  of  love  is  the  great  power  of  the 
Gospel  to  subdue  the  hearts  of  men  and  spread  its  triumphs 
among  them.  It  is  an  evidence  of  the  superhuman  char- 
acter and  origin  of  that  Gospel,  which  appeals  at  once  to 
every  man's  conscience,  and  the  most  accessible  point  of 
his  nature.  Allow  me  to  relate  an  occurrence,  of  which 
you  perhaps  have  read,  as  a  fitting  and  needful  illustration 
here. 

During  the  progress  of  a  revival  in  one  of  the  villages 
of  our  country,  an  aged  Christian  called  at  the  shop  of  a 
blacksmith,  who  was  known  as  a  confirmed  infidel,  to  con- 
verse with  him  on  the  subject  of  religion.  The  hardened 
man  was  familiar  with  all  the  weapons  of  his  infidel  war- 
fare, and  skillful  in  their  use,  so  that  the  poor  old  man, 
when  he  reached  the  shop,  after  much  and  earnest  prayer 
for  him,  trembled  and  knew  not  what  to  do.     At  last, 


248  DISCOURSES. 

standing  by  the  forge,  he  could  only  say,  while  the  tears 
ran  down  his  venerable  cheeks,  ''Sir,  I  am  concerned  for 
your  soul's  salvation — I  am  concerned  for  your  soul's  sal- 
vation." Saying  this,  he  went  away,  to  engage  again  in 
prayer  in  his  behalf.  The  unbeliever  felt  the  force  of  this 
appeal,  and  after  the  aged  Christian  was  gone  he  could  not , 
banish  it  from  his  mind.  And  the  more  he  thought  upon 
it  the  more  strange  it  seemed  to  him,  and  unlike  anything 
of  man's  natural  character,  as  he  well  understood  it.  The 
consciousness  of  his  own  utter  unlikeness  to  such  a  char- 
acter came  upon  him,  till  at  last  it  humbled  him  in  peniten- 
tial prostration  before  God ;  and  in  calling  upon  Christ  he 
found  peace.  Going  now  to  the  place  where  Christians 
were  assembled  for  prayer,  he  stood  up  among  them  and 
told  how  God  had  led  him  to  the  Saviour,  and  filled  him 
with  joy  in  believing.  And  referring  to  his  infidel  argu- 
ments, and  how  they  were  all  foiled  by  the  old  man's  sim- 
ple words  :  "  Oh,"  said  he,  "  I  could  answer  anything  but 
that  man's  concern  for  my  soul." 

Yes,  he  could  answer  anything,  or  thought  that  he  could 
— save  the  argument  of  love :  but  that  conquered  him !  And, 
my  hearers,  it  is  that  argument  that  is  wanting  to  conquer 
the  world :  and  it  is  able  to  do  it ! 

Love,  I  say,  is  the  great  argument  and  power  of  the  Gos- 
pel to  subdue  the  world  unto  itself.  Christ  said  of  Him- 
self, "if  I  be  lifted  up" — that  is,  if  I  make  that  exhibition 
of  my  love  for  the  world  which  I  propose  to  do,  by  dying 
for  it — "  I  shall  draw  all  men  unto  me  :"  all  who  behold 
me  there  will  feel  the  mightiest  appeal  which  can  be  made 
to  the  human  heart  to  come  to  God.  And  the  whole  his- 
tory of  the  Church  has  proved  this.  It  was  love  that  con- 
quered Paul,  and  made  him  such  a  shining  light ; — first 


DISCOURSES.  249 

amons  the  followers  of  Jesus !  and  it  has  been  the  great 
power  of  the  Gospel  ever  since. 

But  we  know  that  in  order  to  bring  this  spirit  of  the 
Gospel  to  bear  upon  men,  it  must  be  exhil)ited  to  them  in 
the  person  of  Christ's  followers ;  as  in  the  case  just  now 
related.  It  is  only  when  the  Church  possesses  and  is  ac- 
tuated by  this  spirit,  that  it  is  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
world  in  any  adequate  degree,  and  with  adequate  force  : 
for  few  would  otherwise  know  auglit  of  the  love  of  Christ ; 
and  though  all  should  know  it  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear, 
they  need  to  see  His  spirit  exhibited  in  a  living  form 
before  them,  fully  to  feel  its  power. 

But  sectarianism  is  the  greatest  foe  to  its  exhibition  which 
God  has  ever  suffered  Satan  to  beget.  It  hinders  brotherly 
love  among  Christians,  and  regard  for  the  souls  of  men. 
It  is  vain  for  brethren  in  Christ  to  talk  about  the  duty  of 
loving  one  another,  and  to  try  to  feel  love  for  one  another, 
while  they  refuse  to  act  as  love  dictates.  Their  actions 
will  control  their  hearts,  as  men's  acts  always  do  in  the 
end.  The  fences  which  they  set  up  between  them  in  fact 
will  be  fences  between  them  in  feeling.  And  that  it  is  now 
even  so.  every  Christian  knows. 

The  fact  is,  worse  than  setting  up  hindrances  to  broth- 
erly love,  the  divisions  of  Christ's  people  beget  and  stimu- 
late continually  that  opposite  spirit  of  rivalry  and  conten- 
tion which  is  the  spirit  of  this  world ;  so  that  instead  of 
saying  of  the  Church,  as  was  once  said  in  the  days  of  her 
rapid  triumphs,  "  see  how  these  Christians  love  one  an- 
other," it  is  now  said,  by  many  who  look  upon  her,  "  see 
how  these  Christians  rival  and  are  jealous  of  each  other;" 
and  thus  is  the  light  of  the  Gospel  dimned,  and  its  pecu- 
liar power  destroyed, 

12 


250  DISCOURSES. 

It  is  tnie  there  are  some  who  can  and  do  overcome  these 
tendencies  to  evil ;  but  many — not  most — do  not.  But  if 
all  did,  what  advantage  would  the  inward  feeling  be,  while 
their  actions  proclaim  to  the  world  their  variance?  I 
grant  that  some  may  not  intend  variance  of  feeling  by  sep- 
arating themselves  from  their  brethren ;  but  it  is  the  na- 
tural languao-e  of  the  act,  and  so  the  world  read  it.  And 
so  reading  it,  were  there  no  greater  cause,  the  peculiar 
spirit  of  the  Gospel  would  be  hid  to  them,  and  its  power 
taken  av/ay.  But  there  is  a  greater  cause.  That  spirit  of 
love  is  not  only  in  a  great  measure  hidden  from  the  world, 
but  it  is  in  a  great  measure  destroyed.  Jealousy  and  conten- 
tious strife  have  been  in  too  many  instances,  or  to  too  large 
an  extent,  brought  in  to  take  its  place  ;  so  that  the  religion 
of  Jesus  has  been  wounded  in  the  house  of  her  friends,  and 
the  right  arm  of  her  strength  torn  from  her  bleeding  side. 
And  how  much  is  lost  to  the  cause  of  our  Redeemer  by  this 
means,  we  can  hardly  stretch  our  thoughts  far  enough  to 
measure.  If  all  Christians  by  their  mutual  love  were  now 
commending  the  Gospel  to  the  world  as  they  did  in  primi- 
tive times,  I  believe  we  should  see  the  Church  advancing 
with  primitive  rapidity.  And  though  we  should  not  charge 
all  the  deficit  to  the  score  of  sects,  yet  there  is  enough 
chargeable  there  to  make  the  account  a  fearful  one. 

But  I  have  said  that  the  exhibition  of  love  to  souls  out 
of  the  Church  is  hindered  by  the  same  cause.  It  is  so  be- 
cause the  selfish  spirit  of  sectarianism  appeals  more  pal- 
pably and  powerfully  to  the  depraved  heart  of  man,  than 
does  a  benevolent  love  for  the  unseen  and  future  good  of 
others,  and  so  tends  constantly  to  usurp  its  place.  And 
so  much  has  that  sectarian  desire  of  gaining  converts  to 
one's  own  party  manifested  itself  to  the  world,  that  it  has 


DISCOURSES.  251 

cast  suspicion  in  many  places  upon  the  labors  of  all  Chris- 
tians; and  thus,  besides  taking  from  them  the  power  of 
that  appeal  to  man's  better  feelings  which  Christian  love 
is  calculated  to  make,  it  has  placed  a  heavy  obstacle  in 
their  way.  Nor  can  we  wonder  at  the  strength  of  such 
suspicions,  when  we  sometimes  see  the  members  of  a  sect 
more  laborious  and  diligent  in  proselyting  to  themselves 
those  who  are  already  Christians,  than  they  ever  are  in 
gaining  lost  souls  from  sin  to  holiness,  and  from  death  to 
life.  It  requires  a  hard  strain,  in  fact,  on  any  man's  charity, 
ever  to  give  such  persons  credit  for  genuine  love  to  man's 
spiritual  interests.  And  while  sectarianism  is  begetting 
such  fruits  in  the  Church,  the  peculiar  spirit  of  the  Gos- 
pel, in  which  its  great  power  lies,  must  ever  be  largely  hid- 
den and  lost. 

Nor  does  the  evil  stop  here.  Kindred  to  this,  I  may  per- 
haps say,  is  the  hindrance  which  the  sectarian  sundering 
of  believers  causes — 

Fifthly,  By  grieving  the  Spirit  of  God. 

That  it  does  do  this  has  been,  I  think,  sufficiently  shown. 
And  this  being  proved,  the  conclusion  which  you  will  all 
admit,  follows  sufficiently  plain.  Want  of  time  will  there- 
fore lead  me  to  pass  hastily  over  this  topic,  though  it  is  one  of 
such  mighty  weight  as  ought  to  make  the  Church  of  Christ 
tremble  and  weep  at  the  good  she  has  destroyed.  When 
she  looks  abroad  over  the  world,  and  groans  to  see  the 
wickedness  and  misery  which  the  Gospel  has  not  yet  reach- 
ed, and  wonders  that  God's  Spirit  of  power  is  withheld 
from  the  work  which  it  might  do,  let  her  remember  how 
that  holy  and  peaceful  Spirit  has  been  grieved  away,  and 
is  yet  grieved,  by  her  unholy  strifes.     But, 

Sixthly,  Sectarianism  hinders  the  progress  or  advancement 


252  DISCOURSES, 

of  the   Church,  in  the  world,  hy  hindering   her  progress  in  the 
truth. 

It  is  unquestionable  that  the  slowness  of  the  Church  in 
the  latter,  is  one  of  the  great  reasons  why  she  is  not  more 
rapid  in  the  former.  That  there  is  much  error  mixed 
with  all  our  systems  of  theology,  cannot  be  denied  by  any 
one  without  arrogance :  for  there  are  many  conflicting 
systems,  so  that  many  errors  exist  somewhere  ;  and  it  would 
be  absurd  to  charge  them  all  upon  one,  and  equally  arro- 
gant to  claim  for  another  exemption  from  the  whole.  But 
error  mixed  with  Gospel  truth,  obscures  its  light,  and  hin- 
ders its  power. 

It  remains,  then,  that  we  show  how  sectarianism  hinders 
progress  in  the  truth.  This  will  not  be  hard  to  do.  It 
does  so,  first,  by  prompting  prejudice.  In  a  vast  majority 
of  cases,  personal  influences,  or  some  external  circumstances 
rather  than  previous  doctrinal  views,  determine  the  sect  to 
which  a  convert  unites  himself.  By  so  uniting,  however, 
he  commits  himself  to  the  views  of  that  sect,  and  that  be- 
fore he  really  understands  what  they  are.  His  attention 
is  too  much  occupied  with  the  great  truths  of  Christianity, 
which  have  given  him  hope  and  life,  to  think  particularly 
at  present  on  secondary  matters. 

But  he  has  committed  himself  with  unquestioning  do- 
cility to  receive  the  instructions  of  those  whom  he  looks 
upon  as  his  elders  and  teachers  in  the  Lord ;  and  they  are 
all  prepared  to  administer  their  theological  nostrums,  in  the 
shape  of  a  creed  or  in  some  other  way,  to  his  receptive 
mind.  Once  swallowed,  whether  understood  or  not,  it 
must  be  stood  to  against  all  who  impugn,  because  it  is 
the  doctrine  of  '•  our  Church."  This  spirit  of  party  ex- 
ercises an  unresisted  influence  to  mould  the  mind  into  all 


DISCOURSES.  253 

the  peculiarities  of  the  sect,  and  complete  the  work  of  in- 
doctrination. Henceforth,  when  the  Bible  is  read  and 
studied,  it  is  not  seen  with  open  and  natural  eyes,  but 
through  the  spectacles  which  the  mind  has  put  on.  Scrip- 
ture passages  have  received  u  stamped  interpretation  before 
they  are  examined  in  their  proper  connection  in  the  Scrip- 
tures themselves  ;  and  the  consequence  is,  a  stereotyped 
Bible  and  a  stereotyped  brain.  But  little  new  light  is  to 
be  expected  to  the  Church  from  minds  thus  fashioned.  I 
have  some  knowledge,  my  friends,  of  the  things  of  which 
I  have  spoken,  for  I  have  been  put  through  this  mill. 

Again,  by  the  process  spoken  of,  the  mind  has  learned  to 
rest  its  behef  too  much  on  human  authority,  and  too  little 
on  evidence  ;  and  this  is  a  habit  in  itself  most  destructive 
to  progress.  It  needs  no  argument  or  illustration  to  show 
that  those  who  are  accustomed  to  look,  for  their  establish- 
ment in  truth,  rather  upon  what  has  received  the  suffrages 
of  many  others  than  upon  the  evidence  which  it  offers,  can 
add  nothing  to  the  stock  which  the  Church  possesses.  And 
is  not  this  the  case  with  the  great  majority  of  Christians  ? 
I  believe  it  is.  And  it  is  largely  owing,  as  has  been  already 
shown,  to  the  evil  of  which  I  am  speaking. 

Again,  sectarianism  affords  its  votaries  so  much  to  do 
in  defending  themselves  against  rival  and  opposing  sects, 
as  leaves  them  little  opportunity  for  calm  investigation,  and 
so  diu-inishes  the  probability  of  their  clearing  their  minds 
of  error,  and  advancing  in  true  knowledge.  It  promotes 
discussion,  it  is  true  ;  but  it  promotes  discussion,  not  among 
simple  inquirers  after  truth,  as  might  otherwise  be  the  case, 
but  among  defenders  of  established  systems,  whose  rank, 
and  influence,  and  emoluments  depend  on  their  success  in 
that  defense.     How  much  likelihood  there  is  amonor  such 


254  DISCOURSES. 

disputants  of  throwing  away  errors,  and  gaining  new  ideas 
from  God's  Word,  let  such  as  know  human  kind  judge. 

But  the  great  fact  concerning  the  hindrance  to  progress 
which  the  divisions  of  the  Church  create,  is  yet  to  come. 

Theology  is  the  product,  not  of  the  mind  of  the  Church 
in  general — not  of  the  united  wisdom  of  the  people  of  God — 
but  of  a  few  leading  minds  in  the  min'stry  ;  and  that  greatly 
in  past  ages.  Certain  individuals,  favored  by  circumstances 
or  mental  gifts,  have  issued  their  systems  of  Scripture  in- 
terpretation, and  established  sects.  They  have  found  fol- 
lowers, as  every  body  can  in  this  world ;  and  very  many 
of  them  have  had  sufficient  Gospel  truth  in  their  systems 
to  convert  souls,  and  do  much  good.  The  sect  becoming 
established,  it  has  power.  The  people  in  general  have  lit- 
tle opportunity  or  taste  for  theological  investigation,  but 
are  attached  to  their  fathers,  and  teachers  in  the  Gospel, 
and  through  them  to  the  tenets  which  they  hold.  If  any 
progress  is  to  come,  it  must  come  through  the  ministry. 
They  are  dependent,  however,  on  the  sect  as  a  whole ;  and 
the  sect  has  power  to  sustain  and  honor  such  as  fall  in  with 
its  established  lines.  Of  all  these  lines,  however,  it  is  from 
the  nature  of  sects,  peculiarly  and  strictly  tenacious.  He 
who  departs  from  them  in  the  least  will  be  cast  out.  And 
if  cast  out,  where  shall  he  go  ?  There  are  none  to  take 
him  up  and  sustain  him,  for  sects  are  the  order  of  the  day ; 
and  because  he  differs  a  little  from  one  he  will  not  there- 
fore be  received  by  others  which  are  still  more  variant.  He 
must,  therefore,  either  renounce  the  ministry,  and  so  lose 
his  principal  opportunity  of  advancing  the  Church,  and 
doing  the  good  which  his  soul  desires,  or  else  he  must  keep 
the  new  truth  which  God  has  iriven  him  to  himself. 

There  are  enough  in  the  ministry  who  are  bigoted  sec- 


DISCOURSES.  255 

tarists,  loving  their  place  and  power  to  watcli  all  the  rest, 
and  cry  Heresy !  Heresy !  the  moment  a  new  idea  is  heard, 
evolved  from  the  Grospel  of  Christ. 

And  whe  1  we  see  how  the  ministry  are  trained,  we 
can  expect  but  little  disposition  in  them,  in  general,  to 
meddle  with  existing  sectarian  fixtures. 

A  young  man,  with  his  heart  filled  with  the  love  of 
Christ,  and  of  his  fellow- men,  resolves  to  study  for  the 
ministry.  He  is  already  the  member  of  a  sect,  and  dis- 
posed to  its  particular  views.  He  naturally  goes,  there- 
fore, to  one  of  the  theological  schools  of  his  denomination. 
He  finds  there  that  the  law  of  the  Medes  and  Persians  has 
been  laid  down — the  creed,  in  all  its  ramifications  and 
tvvigifications,  is  graven  on  steel;  and  lest  the  venerable 
and  long  established  teachers  should,  by  some  accident,  get 
a  new  idea  in  the  progress  of  time,  they  are  required  at 
stated  periods  of  a  year  or  two  (this  is  actually  the  cus- 
tom*) to  give  a  solemn  pledge  in  no  wise  to  depart  there- 
from. 

It  is  under  such  training  as  this,  that  the  ministry  in 
general  is  formed.  This,  somewhat,  accounts  for  uniformity 
within  the  walls  of  a  sect. 

But  after  all,  the  young  man  may  be  somewhat  indepen- 
dant  in  his  mind,  and  not  disposed  to  receive  so  implicitly 
the  dicta  of  his  teachers — and  what  then  ? 

Why,  then  he  is  plied  with  a  cannonade  of  arguments 
from  those  old  and  practised  artillerists  ;  and  if  he  is  still 
so  keen-sighted  and  strong  as  to  ward  the  bullets,  and  stand 
his  ground,  he  is  gravely  told,  those  are  the  views  of  the 
institution  and  the  Church,  and  he  must  submit,  or  there 

*  But  custom,  not  only  without  reason,  but  almost  without  authority,  as  we 
attempt  to  show  at  the  close  of  the  volumo. — JEd. 


256  DISCOURSES. 

is  no  proper  place  for  him  there,  nor  will  the  pulpits  of  the 
Church  be  opened  to  receive  him.  I  am  not  supposing  a 
case,  my  friends.     I  am  relating  facts  which  have  occurred. 

Thus  it  is,  my  hearei's,  that  sectarianism  does  destroy 
that  Christian  liberty  which  is  essential  to  the  candid  in- 
vestigation of  the  Scriptures,  and  without  which,  the  pro- 
gress of  the  Church,  in  truth,  must  be  slow  and  difficult, 
and  therefore,  its  triumph  be  postponed.* 

Seventh.  But  the  seventh  and  final  reason  which  I  will 
oiFer,  for  the  detriment  done  to  the  spread  of  religion  by  the 
divisions  of  Christ's  people,  is  the  injury  which  these  do  to 
their  piety. 

That  injury  arises,  as  I  have  already  shown,  from  many 
of  the  same  causes  which  operate  directly  against  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  Church  abroad : — from  the  too  great 
prominence  given  to  secondary  and  non-practical  truths 
in  the  minds  of  the  Church  ;  from  the  idol  of  party  thus 
created,  and  dividing  the  heart  from  Christ ;  from  the  false 
churches  and  false  professors  thus  originated  or  sustained, 
and  debasing  the  standard  of  religion  by  their  unworthy 
example  ;  from  the  hindrance  to  progress  in  understanding 

*  "Factions,  moreoyer,  benumb  the  expansive  powers  of  Christianity,  and 
prevent  its  spread.  They  create,  too,  a  universal  confusion,  entanglements,  and 
pervei'sion  of  religious  notions.  No  inquiry  can  be  calmly  prosecuted,  no  result 
of  solitary  meditation  can  be  safely  reported,  nothing  can  be  looked  at  in  its  na- 
tive form,  so  long  as  the  jealousies  and  the  interests  of  eight  or  ten  ancient 
and  corporate  factions  spread  themselves  over  the  field  of  theology.  Even 
those  few  insulated  articles  of  Christian  belief  or  speculation,  or  of  abstruse 
science,  which  have  not  been  claimed  by  party  zeal,  are  often  found  to  ahirm  the 
■wakeful  fears  of  this  or  that  guardian  of  sectarianism,  merely  because  the  meth- 
od of  argument  which  may  have  been  employed  in  such  instances  is  fo;e<een 
to  have  a  bearing  upon  matters  that  are  held  to  be  inviolable.  The  opinion  in  it- 
self may  be  innocent  enough;  but  the  logic  that  sustains  it  is  dangerous.  Bet- 
ter then  quash  at  once  the  suspicious  novelty,  which,  tliough  it  maybe  good 
and  true,  is  not  momentous,  than  favor  it.  and  so  open  the  door  to  no  one  can 
say  what  innovations !" —  Taylor.  Nat.  Hist,  of  Fanaticism  j  of  the  Symbol. —  [Ed. 


DISCOURSES.  257 

the  Scriptures,  as  just  treated  ;  and  finally,  from  doing 
despite  to  the  Spirit  of  Grace,  grieving  the  heavenly  Dove 
from  the  bosoms  where  rivalry  and  contention  are  made 
to  enter.  Not  only  do  these  causes  operate  directly  against 
the  conquest  at  which  the  Church  is  aiming,  but  by  injur- 
ing its  inety^  they  do  more  perhaps  than  in  any  other  way 
to  keep  back  its  triumphs. 

It  is  by  their  own  nearness  to  God,  their  own  likeness 
to  Christ,  that  the  members  of  Christ's  body  must  give 
power  to  the  truth  they  proclaim  to  subdue  the  world  unto 
Him.  If  the  Church  itself  were  as  well  advanced  in 
piety  as  it  should  be,  the  cause  of  our  Redeemer  would 
roll  on  with  lightning  speed.  And  how  incalculable  the 
mischief  which  the  unhappy  divisions  of  Christ's  people  are 
doing  by  operating  against  this !  Oh !  that  the  Church 
might  awaken  to  its  error,  and  strive  for  some  method  of 
deliverance ! 

I  have  now  endeavored — knowing  how  many  prejudices 
I  may  assail,  but  determined  to  cast  from  me  the  fear  of 
man  ;  for  my  position  in  the  ministry  is  not  worth  to  me  a 
straw,  unless  I  can  speak  forth  out  of  my  heart  what  God 
puts  in  it — I  have  endeavored  to  show  you  some  of  the 
workings  of  this  giant  evil,  which  I  have  called  Sectarian- 
ism. I  do  not  mean  by  this,  as  is  often  meant,  the  spirit 
of  separation,  but  separation  itself.  And  have  I  not  shown 
you  abundant  reasons  to  substantiate  the  proposition  with 
which  I  set  out  ?  IMay  we  not  well  conclude,  in  view  of 
all  these  mournful  facts,  that  this  evil  is  a  mighty  injury 
to  the  piety  of  the  Church,  and  perhaps  the  greatest  single 
enemy  to  her  conquest  of  the  world ;  seeing  the  Gospel  of 
Christ  is  fitted  to  save  our  race  unto  the  uttermost,  and 

12* 


258  DISCOURSES. 

nothing  is  wanting  but  that  the  Church  should  adequately 
exemplify  and  present  it  to  their  minds  and  hearts  ? 

Think  not  that  it  has  been  to  me  an  altogether  pleasing 
task,  to  speak  evil  of  the  Church  I  love — of  the  people  of 
Christ  to  whom  I  belong. 

My  heart  has  groaned  as,  pen  in  hand,  I  have  looked  at 
this  subject,  arranging  my  thoughts  to  present  them  to  you. 
Is  the  Church  of  Christ  altogether  corrupt  and  worthless? 
No,  no — no,  no!  she  abounds  in  holy  hearts,  and  she  is 
doing  a  mighty  and  a  blessed  work.  But  she  has  spots  on 
her  garments  still,  And  when  we  turn  our  eyes  to  her 
better  traits,  we  may  so  hide  those  spots  that  they  will  seem 
small ;  but  when  we  look  steadily  at  them  they  seem  large 
enough.  For,  indeed,  they  are  large  enough — too  large, 
too  large,  my  friends,  to  behold  without  sighing  and  tears. 
Oh !  when  shall  the  blessed  Spirit  of  our  Master  come — that 
Spirit  which  is  love — and  heal  our  wounds '?  When  shall 
He  walk  upon  this  tossing  sea,  and  say,  "  Peace !  be  still  ?" 

The  subject  presents  matter  for  the  serious  inquiries  and 
prayers  of  every  Christian.  Thanks  to  God,  there  is  the 
beginning  of  a  better  spirit  abroad  in  the  Churches.  The 
attempted  World's  Alliance  at  London  a  few  years  ago  grew 
out  of  it.  What  though  that  failed  ?  the  spirit  has  not 
failed.  Thousands  of  Christians  all  over  the  land  feel  it. 
Churches  are  springing  up  which  reject  it — or  mean  to — 
though  some  of  them  do  not  see  how.  Many  Christians 
are  holding  off  from  all  connection  with  churches  on  ac- 
count of  it.     (I  do  not  say  they  should:  let  them  judge.) 

Bible,  and  Tract,  and  Sunday  School-societies  have 
sprung  up,  which  are  living  repudiations  of  it,  and  gi'cat 
standing  proofs  before  all  the  Church,  that  it  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  in  some  degree  to  depart  from  it. 


DISCOURSES.  259 

But  though  all  these  things  are  true,  the  evil  exists  still 
in  prodigious  vigor.  The  better  spirit  which  pervades  the 
Church  so  largely  has  not  availed  in  general  to  change 
those  practices  by  which  it  is  kept  alive,  and  the  instances 
in  which  it  has  availed  are  lost  among  the  multitude. 

The  evil  still  exists  and  is  multiplying ;  and  it  becomes 
all  those  who  love  Christ  and  his  cause,  to  study  the  sub- 
ject, and  pray  over  it.  The  Apostle  Paul  evidently 
thought  such  a  state  of  things  altoorether  needless.  He 
exhorted  the  Corinthians  to  be  "joined  together  in  the 
same  mind."  And  he  adjured  them  to  this  in  the  most 
solemn  manner — "  by  the  name  of  our  Christ." 

In  His  name,  also,  will  I  adjure  you,  my  Christian  friends. 

If  in  all  that  I  have  said,  there  are  some  things  to  which 
you  cannot  assent — which  would  not  be  strange — yet  the 
reality  and  the  greatness  of  that  evil  which  I  have  tried  to 
exhibit,  you  cannot  deny.  And  though  no  other  reasons 
could  be  found  for  deprecating  these  divisions  among  the 
followers  of  our  common  Lord,  it  is  sufficient  that  they  are 
opposed  to  the  spirit  of  our  holy  religion,  and  a  grief  (/  am 
warranted  in  saying  it  hy  the  spirit  of  His  own  prayer)  a  grief 
to  our  Divine  Redeemer. 

In  His  name  then  I  beseech  you,  ponder  and  pray  upon 
this  matter,  and  away  with  this  evil  from  your  hearts. 
And  see  to  it  that  ye  love  your  brethren,  "  not  in  word^^ 
merely,  "  neither  in  tongue  ;  hut  in  deed  and  in  truihP 

The  Lord  give  us  wisdom  to  direct,  and  grace  to  do,  in 
His  appointed  way. 


APPENDIX. 


ANALYSIS     OF     FAITH 


Subjectively,  Faith  or  Belief  is  of  three  kinds :  simple 
or  historical,  practical  or  voluntary,  and  non-voluntary. 

Tnist  or  Confidence  is  of  three  kinds :  simple  or  emotive, 
practical  or  voluntary,  and  non-voluntary. 

Simple  or  historical  faith  or  belief  is  the  assent  of  the  un- 
derstanding, when  no  action  on  the  subject  is  possible,  or 
is  practically  believed  to  be  at  present  unnecessary  (as  the 
unrepenting  man's  faith  in  future  punishment). 

Simple  or  emotive  trust  or  confidence  is  the  feeling  of  the 
mind  which  responds  to  the  assent  of  the  understanding  .o 
any  truth  (generally  used,  however,  in  reference  to  truth 
in  which  the  mind  feels  satisfaction  or  pleasurable  emotion). 

Voluntary  or  practical  faith  or  belief,  trust  or  confidence,  is 
complex ;  comprising  the  assent  of  the  understanding,  the 
act  or  state  of  the  will  corresponding,  and  the  feeling  of 
trust  or  confidence.  But,  2^i'<^ctical  faith  or  belief  denotes 
this  idea  without  prominent  reference  to  either  of  its  ele- 
ments ;  though  such  a  reference  may  arise  from  the  circum. 
stances  of  its  use  ;  and  originally  the  word  itself  contained 
a  prominent  reference  to  the  assent  of  the  understanding 


APPENDIX.  261 

Practical  trust  or  confidence  denotes  this  idea  with  prominent 
reference  to  the  feeling  or  emotion. 

By  non-voluntai-y  Faith,  Belief,  Trust  or  Confidence,  I 
denote  the  use  of  the  words  when  they  are  employed  in- 
discriminately to  signify  the  assent  of  the  understanding, 
and  the  corresponding  emotion. 

A  more  philosophical  division   of  the  above  will  be : 
Faith  is  of  two  kinds  :  involuntary  and  voluntary. 

I.  Involuntary,  two  kinds;  (a)  simple,  [h)  compound 
(/.  e.  "  non-voluntary.") 

II.  Voluntary  or  practical. 

The  three  main  points  maintained  by  our  author,  and 
indicated  in  the  above  analysis,  may  be  briefly  stated  thus : 
Faith,  in  the  sense  in  which  it  is  a  duty  and  a  condition  of 
salvation,  is,  1,  Rational;  2,  it  is  Voluntary;  3,  it  is 
Moral.  It  is  opposed  neither  to  Eeason,  Work,  nor  Emo- 
tion, bnt  includes  them  all.  It  is  the  synthesis  of  Thought, 
Feeling  and  Act.  And  because  it  is  the  harmony  of  these, 
it  tends,  when  directed  to  its  proper  object,  to  the  highest 
development  of  man's  being. 

This  view  of  Faith,  we  think,  best  meets  a  triple  error 
that  appears  in  the  history  of  the  Church,  and  a  corres- 
ponding triple  scepticism  in  the  world.  \ye  offer  here  a 
few  extracts,  to  show  how  urgent  occasion  there  has  been 
for  the  views  taken  by  our  author,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
give  them  such  support  as  may  be  found  in  the  opinions  of 
thinking  men. — [Ed. 


NOTE    A. 


THAT     FAITH     IS     RATIONAL. 

How  Faith  has  been  opposed  to  Reason. — Clement  of  Alex- 
andria speaks  of  the  faith  which  "  the  Greeks  do  slander,  as  an 
empty  and  barbarian  folly."  IlWtj  U  iiv  SiaSaWovai  Kcvijv  xai 
(iapSapov  voixi^ovres  "EWrjvzs- — Strom,  1.  ii.  c.  2.  Rufinus  says  that 
"  the  pagans  commonly  object  that  our  religion,  because  it  seems 
deficient  in  reasons,  consists  in  a  mere  disposition  to  believe." — 
Pagani  nobis  objicere  solent,  quod  religio  nostra,  quia  quasi  ra- 
tionibus  deficit,  in  sola  credendi  persuasione  consistat. — In 
Symb. 

Origen,  in  his  work  against  Celsus,  alludes  to  such  charges 
as  these  :  "  Do  not  examine,  but  believe."  "  Believe,  if  you 
wish  to  be  saved,  or  be  gone."  M^  e^cTa^e,  dX\a  Tricmvaov.  nia- 
TEmov,  d  aoidfjvai  deXeis,  ij  amdi.     And  in  a  work  ascribed  to  Athana.- 

sius  :  AeX^ff^fj  ^^(^l-v,  an-Xwj  TO.  \£y6^i£va,  Kol  nr)6sls  k^eTa^ino  ri  npsTrou 
kv  avroXi  »j  H  UTrptitEg  Kat  ttLcttiv  dfo/id^ei  rriv  uSaaavLorov  tin  roXs  dcTarois 
kcCI  dvairoSeiKTOi  skirl  j3\a6rj   avyKardOeaiv. —  0pp.   tom.    ii,,  p.    581,   ed. 

Benedict. 

The  "  certum  est  quia  impossibile  est,"  of  Tertullian,  is  well 
known.  Yet  even  he,  in  controverting  error,  gives  faith  its 
proper  rational  basis.  "  Aut  proba  esse  quae  credis,  aut  si  non 
probas,  quomodo  credis?" — Adv.  Marc,  v.  1. 

Julian,  cited  by  Gregory  Nazianzen  :  'Htinerepoi,  ^rjcriv,  ol  \6yoi 
Kol  ro  kWrjviTeiv,  cov  koI  to  aeBtiv  Oeovg  :  Vfidv  6i  f]  dXoj-ia,  Kol  ^  dYpoiKiOf 
Kol  ovSif  Vntp  TO,  Jliarevaov,  Tfjs  VfiCTepai  iai\  ao(pias. 

See  also  Arnobius,  cited  above,  page .     Extended  replies 

to  these  cavils  were  made  by  Eusebius,  Praepar.  Evangel.  1.  i. 
Augustine,  Ad  Honoratum,  De  Utilitate  Credendi ;  Theodo- 
ret,  Serm.  I.  De  Fide  contra  Graecos. 


APPENDIX.  263 

The  history  of  the  degradation  of  faith  to  blind  irrationality, 
during  the  Middle  Ages,  would  make  a  volume  of  itself.  This 
subject  is  intimately  connected  with  the  misapplication  of  the 
term  "  mystery,"  and  the  extension  and  abuse  of  the  idea  of 
mystery ;  with  the  false  doctrine  of  justice,  or  right,  as  based 
upon  mere  omnipotent  will  or  power ;  with  the  doctrine  and 
practice  of  the  pious  fraud,  and  of  compulsion  in  religious  mat- 
ters, and  of  ceremonial  or  irrational  devices  for  salvation  ;  and 
with  the  doctrine  of  uniformity  in  opinion,  and  hence  of  im- 
plicit faith,  as  necessary  to  salvation. 

This  last  tenet,  which  of  course  subverts  all  right  of  private 
judgment,  is  thus  stated  by  the  most  profound  of  the  late  Ro- 
manist divines,  Dr.  Moehler  :  "  He  who  establishes  his  fait^ 
on  Scripture,  viz.,  on  the  results  to  which  his  Biblical  researches 
have  led  him,  has  no  faith — does  not  know  at  all  what  faith 
is."— Symbolism,  Ch.  v..  Art.  39. 

Between  this  bold  Irrationalism,  and  the  Neology  which 
would  make  God's  admitted  testimony  no  better  than  each  man's 
opinion,  nominal  Protestantism  has  furnished  every  shade  of 
doctrine,  simply  because  under  that  name  the  various  natures  of 
men  have  found  free  scope.  It  would  be  strange,  indeed,  if  the 
example  of  noble  men  within  the  Romish  Church,  and  various 
motives  furnished  by  its  remaining  power,  had  not  produced  a 
repetition  of  its  errors  beyond  its  pale.  It  still  remains  for 
Protestants  generally  to  find  that  just  view  of  faith  which  shall 
stand  against  all  objections,  either  of  Romanist  or  Rationalist. 

Testimonies  to  Faith  as  Rational. — Most  earnestly  did  the 
early  Christian  writers  combat  the  prejudice  that  faith  was  op- 
posed to  reason,  though  it  might  be  in  advance  of  knowledge. 
Thus  Clement  of  Alexandria  :  "  Believing  in  the  Logos,  whom 
we  term  our  Master,  consists  in  obedience  to  His  precepts, 
withstanding  Him  in  nothing  ;  for  how,  indeed,  can  we  with- 
stand God  ?  Knowledge,  therefore,  is  faith,  and  faith  is  knowl- 
edge ;  for  by  some  divine  arrangement  they  mutually  lead  and 
are  led  by  each  other,  in  perfect  companionship."     And  then, 


264  APPENDIX. 

citing  Epicurus'  doctrine  of  np6\n\pis  (conjecture,  or  anticipa- 
tion,) he  says  :  "  If  faith,  then,  be  nothing  more  than  this 
np6\ri\pif  of  the  understanding  as  to  the  things  spoken,  and  this 
be  obedience,  and  if  intelligence  of  the  matter  be  persuasion, — 
then  no  one  learns  without  faith,  because  none  can  learn  with- 
out this  fore-feeling  ;  and  thus  what  the  prophet  says  (Isa.  vii. 
9)  is  shown  to  be  true  :  '  Unless  ye  believe  ye  cannot  under- 
stand ;'  and  thus,  too,  Heraclitus  the  Ephesian  has  paraphrased 
the  same  idea,  saying,  '  Unless  a  man  hopes,  he  will  not  find 
what  he  did  not  hope.' " — Stromata,  1.  ii.,  c.  4.  In  chapter  5, 
Clement  speaks  of  repentance  as  "  the  good  work  of  faith," — 
of  "  hope  as  springing  from  faith," — and  of  faith  as  "  the  found- 
ation of  love." 

^  In  the  "Apostolical  Constitutions,"  even  when  full-grown  and 
past  their  early  simplicity,  we  find  a  blessing  for  him  who  be- 
lieves, not  with  blind  un-reason,  but  with  judgment  and  full 

conviction  :  'O  lavra  TnaTEwas  ovx  anXoJs  ov6^  a,\6yci3s,  dWa  Kplcei  Koi 
Tr\ripo(popia  Xapiff[ia  elXriipev  Ik  Qsov. — viii.   1, 

Lactantius  ridicules  the  pagans  for  following  the  religious 
customs  for  which  they  pretended  no  better  authority  than  an- 
cestral example  and  tradition,  {Inst.  Div.,  1.  ii.,  c.  6,)  and  con- 
cludes :  "  Quare  oportet,  in  ea  re  maxime  in  qua  vitae  ratio 
versatur,  sibi  quemque  confidere,  suoque  judicio  ac  propriis  sen- 
sibus  niti  ad  investigandam  et  perpendendam  veritatem,  quam 
credentem  alienis  erroribus  decipi,  tanquam  ipsum  rationis  ex- 
pertem.  Dedit  omnibus  Deus  pro  virili  portione  sapientiam,ut 
et  inaudita  investigare  possent,  et  audita  perpendere." — C.  7. 

The  views  of  Maximus,  in  the  seventh  century,  "  aman  dis- 
tinguished for  acuteness  and  profundity  of  intellect,"  are  thus 
stated  by  Neander  :  "  The  Holy  Spirit  works  not  wisdom  in 
the  saints  without  a  mind  which  is  susceptible  of  it ; — it  works 
not  knowledge,  without  a  recipient  faculty  of  reason ;  it  works 
not  faith,  without  a  rational  conviction  respecting  the  future 
and  the  invisible  ;  it  works  not  the  gift  of  miraculous  healing, 
without  a  natural  philanthropy  ;   and,  in  a  word,  it  produces  no 


APPENDIX.  265 

charisma  whatsoever,  without  the  recipient  faculty  for  each." — 
Chh.  Hist.,  Trans,  by  Torrey,  vol.  iii.,  p.  173.*^ 

"  Duns  Scotus  was  the  first  who  [in  the  mediaeval  times]  man- 
ifested a  leaning  towards  Christian  Rationalism,  and  a  union  be- 
tween it  and  Supernaturalism,  by  considering  true  religion  and 
true  philosophy  as  one  and  the  same  thing,  and  by  looking  for 
the  true  source  of  religious  knowledge  in  him'Self — i.  e.,  in  his 
rational  consciousness.  But  he  did  not  deny  the  necessity  of 
a  positive  revelation  which  has  come  from  without." — Hagen- 
lach,  Hist,  of  Doc,  ^  158.  "He  may,  in  a  certain  sense,  be 
called  the  author  of  Rationalism ;  but  his  Rationalism  is  very 
different  from,  and  forms  the  strongest  contrast  with,  that  per- 
verse form  of  Rationalism  which  exists  at  the  present  day." — 
Staudenmaier,  cited  by  Hagenbach. 

"  The  use  of  reason  in  spiritual  things,  and  the  latitude 
thereof,  are  very  great  and  general  ;  for  it  is  not  for  nothing 
that  the  Apostle  calleth  religion  our  reasonable  service  of  God, 
insomuch  as  the  very  ceremonies  and  figures  of  the  old  Law 
were  full  of  reason  and  signification,  much  more  than  the  cere- 
monies of  idolatry  and  magic,  that  were  full  of  non-significants 
and  surd  characters.  But  most  especially  the  Christian  faith, 
as  in  all  things,  so  in  this,  deserveth  to  be  highly  magnified, 
holding  and  preserving  the  golden  mediocrity  in  this  point,  be- 
tween the  law  of  the  heathen  and  the  law  of  Mahomet,  which 
have  embraced  the  two  extremes.  For  the  religion  of  the  hea- 
then had  no  constant  belief  or  confession,  but  left  all  to  the  lib- 
erty of  argument ;  and  the  religion  of  Mahomet,  on  the  other 

*  Neander  says  of  the  -works  of  Maximus  :  "  The  grand  features  of  a  coherent 
system  may  be  discovered  in  them,  together  with  many  fruitful  and  pregnant 
ideas,  -which,  if  he  had  developed  himself  and  acted  his  part  under  more  favor- 
able circumstances,  [he  -was  opposed,  banished,  recalled  to  be  scourged  and  his 
tongue  cut  out,  and  again  banis-hed,  for  his  opinions.] — might  have  been  the 
means  of  leading  himself  and  others  to  an  original  construction  of  the  Chris- 
tian system  of  faith  and  morals.  He  -was  also  distinguished  for  his  zeal  in  en- 
deavoring to  promote  a  vital,  practical  Christianity,  flowing  out  of  the  disposition 
of  the  heart,  in  opposition  to  dead  faith  and  outward  works." — Page  171. 


266  APPENDIX. 

side,  interdicteth  argument  altogether  :  the  one  having  the  very- 
face  of  error,  and  the  other  of  imposture ;  whereas  the  Chris- 
tian faith  doth  both  admit  and  reject  disputation  with  differ- 
ence."— Bacon,  Advancement  of  Learning. 

"As  to  its  nature  [faith]  doth  involve  knowledge,  knowledge 
of  most  worthy  and  important  truths,  knowledge  peculiar  and 
not  otherwise  aftainable,  knowledge  in  way  of  great  evidence 

and  assurance." "  Faith  implieth  a  good  use  of  reason." 

"It  was  a  foul  aspersion  cast  upon  our  religion  by  its 

ancient  opposer,  that  it  did  require  \pi\r]v  koI  aXoyov  irLariv,  a 
mere  belief,  void  of  reason;  challenging  assent  to  its  doctrines 
without  any  trial  or  proof." — Barrow,  on  the  Creed  ;  Sermon 
I.,  on  Faith 

"  Whatever  theories  may  be  conceived  in  regard  to  the  man- 
ner of  inspiration — visions,  voices,  internal  impulses — the  rea- 
son of  the  individual  must  be  convinced  of  its  reality,  else  it 
could  not  be  distinguished  from  insanity.  Every  thing  not 
reasonable,  either  in  itself,  or  by  virtue  of  the  ground  upon 
which  we  accept  it,  is  absurd.  Revelation  can  have  no  au- 
thority for  a  rational  being,  till  reason  has  recognized  it  as 
such." — /.  Blanco  White,  Heresy  and  Orthodoxy,  Letter  III. 

"  That  faith  which  is  counted  for  righteousness,  consists,  not 
in  believing  without  evidence,  but  in  being  open  to  evidence  : 
in  candidly  and  patiently  weighing  the  reasons  ;  and  in  resolv- 
ing to  receive  and  acknowledge  whatever  there  is  good  ground 
for  believing,  however  contrary  it  may  be  to  our  expectations, 
wishes,  and  prejudices^ — Whately,  Scrip.  Rev.  of  a  Fut.  State, 
eh.  xi. 

"  Faith  and  reason,  when  the  matter  is  rightly  understood , 
are  by  no  means  the  opposites  of  each  other  True  faith  and 
right  reason  always  have  harmonized,  always  will  harmonize. 
Tbe  conflict,  which  from  time  to  time  takes  place,  is  in  appear- 
ance and  not  in  reality  ;  is  relative,  and  not  absolute." — 
JJpham,  Life  of  Faith,  P.  I.,  ch.  xiv. 

"  If  to  the  faith  of  which  the  New  Testament  speaks  so 


APPENDIX.  267 

much,  a  peculiar  blessing  is  promised,  it  is  evident  from  that 
same  volume  that  it  is  not  a  'faith  without  reason  '  any  more 
than  a  '  faith  without  works,'  which  is  commended  by  the 
Author  of  Christianity." — Henry  Rogers,  Reason  and  Faith. 

The  following,  from  Dr.  Arnold,  may  well  complete  this  part 
of  the  discussion  : 

"  Faith  and  reason  are  often  invidiously  contrasted  with  each 
other,  as  if  they  were  commonly  described  in  Scripture  as  an- 
tagonists ;  whereas  faith  is  more  properly  opposed  to  sight  or 
to  lust,  being  in  fact  a  very  high  exercise  of  the  pure  reason  ; 
inasmuch  as  we  believe  truths  which  our  senses  do  not  teach 
us,  and  which  our  passions  would  have  us,  therefore,  reject,  be- 
cause those  truths  are  taught  by  Him  in  whom  reason  recog- 
nizes its  own  author,  the  infallible  source  of  all  truth. 

"  It  were  better  to  oppose  reason  to  passion  than  to  faith ;  for 
it  may  be  safely  said,  that  he  who  neglects  his  reason,  and  so 
far  as  he  neglects  it,  does  not  lead  a  life  of  faith  afterwards,  but 
a  life  of  passion 

"  Faith  may  be  described  as  reason  leaning  upon  God.  With- 
out God, reason  is  either  overpowered  by  sense  and  understand- 
ing, and,  in  a  manner,  overgrown,  so  that  it  cannot  apprehend 
its  proper  truths ;  or  being  infinite,  it  cannot  discover  all  the 
truths  which  concern  it,  and  therefore  needs  a  further  revela- 
tion to  enlighten  it.  But  with  God's  grace  strengthening  it  to 
assert  its  supremacy  over  sense  and  understanding,  and  com- 
municating to  it  what  of  itself  it  could  not  have  discovered,  it 
then  having  gained  strength  and  light  not  its  own,  and  doing 
and  seeing  consciously  by  God's  help,  becomes  properly  faith. 

"  Faith  without  reason,  is  not  properly  faith,  but  mere  power- 
worship  ;  and  power-worship  may  be  devil-worship  ;  for  it  is 
reason  which  entertains  the  idea  of  God — an  idea  essentially 
made  up  of  truth  and  goodness,  no  less  than  of  power 

"  Reason,  then,  is  the  means  whereby  we  attain  to  faith,  and 
escape  the  devil-worship  of  idolatry." — Tracts  for  the  Times, 
Addenda  I.     Introd.  to  "  Christian  Life,"  &c. 


268  APPENDIX, 

Dr.  A.  in  the  above  passage  alludes  to  Coleridge's  distinction 
between  reason  and  understanding,  which  he  deems  important 
for  our  defence  against  Rationalism  on  the  one  hand,  and  Ro- 
manism on  the  other.     The  whole  article  should  be  read. 

The  TrpoXriipig — "  prcsumption  " — of  Epicurus  seems  to  be  the 
same  with  the  acpoSpa  vTr6\riijjig,  earnest  opinion,  or  "  I  would  un- 
dertake to  say,"  of  Aristotle. — Topics,  iv.  5.  Compare  with  this 
the  expression  in  the  Ethics,  vi.  3  :     "Otov  yap  nus  wurrevrj,  koI 

yvdjpijioi  avrtS  cjaiv  al  upXaij  kTrtararai.       Clement  alsO    citCS  Aristotlc 

as  saying  that  the  judgment  of  a  thing  as  true  which  is  formed 
on  acquaintance  with  it,  is  a  species  of  faith. — See  Barrow, 
Serm.  TV.,  on  the  Creed. 


NOTE    B. 


THAT     FAITH    IS    VOLUNTARY. 

*'  Faith  is  a  spontaneous  acceptance,  and  compliance  with 

divine  religion."      Uicms  vp6\r]Xpii  Uowios  hn,  dtoatBuas  (TVYKaraOeats 

Clement,  Strom.  1.  ii.,  p   265. 

"  To  be  made  at  first  was  not  of  ourselves  ;  but  God  persua- 
deth  us  to  follow  those  things  which  Himself  loveth,  by  free 
choice  with  the  rational  faculties  which  He  hath  given  us,  and 

so  leadeth  us  to  faith."  To  niv  apxriv  ytvtaeai  ovx  rtnETEpov  jj*/.  to  6i 
tlaKo\ov6rivai  olg  ^i\ov  avrtZ  aipovuhovs  Si  uyv  aVTds  iSwpficraTO  XoyiKdv 
Swifitoiv,  neWei    ts  koI  elg   nianv  ayti  f)[ias. JustlTl    Mart..,    Apol.  11. 

"  All  faith,  therefore,  even  in  common  things,  may  be  deemed 
voluntary,  no  less  than  intellectual  :  and  Christian  faith  is  espe- 
cially such,  as  requiring  thereto  more  appreciation  of  soul, 
managed  by  choice,  than  any  other.  .  .  .  The  same  is 
supposed  in  Holy  Scripture  ;  where  of  believers  it  is  said  that 
they  did  uanevws,  gladly,  or  willingly,  receive  the  word,  and  they 
received  it  nera  ndaris  Trpodvuias,  with  all  willingness,  or  readiness 
of  mind. 

"  And  to  defect  of  will,  infidelity  is  often  ascribed.  John, 
V.  40;  Luke,  xiii.  34;  Matt.  xxii.  3;  2  Pet.  iii.  5;  2  Thes. 
ii.  10,  12.  And  onriaTos,  w  (piXov  \psv6os  eKowiov,  says  Clement  :  '  he 
is  the  unbeliever,  whom  a  fond  delusion  has  enticed.'  " — Barrow. 

"  It  is  the  moral  duty  of  the  ivill  to  use  the  understanding  as  a 
mirror,  courting  in  every  direction,  and  by  every  means  in  man's 
power,  the  rays  of  divine  truth;  and  endeavoring,  by  industry, 
disinterestedness,  and  sincerity,  to  remove  the  soiling  breath  of 
the  passions  and  desires,  which  so  frequently  distort  those  rays, 
and  make  them  diverge  from  the  mind." — /.  Blanco  White, 
Heresy  and  Orthodoxy,  Letter  U. 


NOTE    C. 


THAT    i'AlTH    IS    MORAL. 

The  Sceptical  Vieu\ — '"It  lies  in  the  nature  of  faith,  that 
it  be  fixed  as  dogma.  Dogma  only  gives  a  formula  to 
what  faith  had  already  on  its  tongue  or  in  its  mind.  That 
when  once  a  fundamental  dogma  is  established,  it  gives 
rise  to  more  special  questions,  which  must  also  be  thrown 
into  a  dogmatic  form,  that  thence  there  results  a  burdensome 
multiplicity  of  dogmas, — this  is  certainly  a  fatal  conse- 
quence, but  does  not  do  away  with  the  necessity  that  faith 
should  fix  itself  in  dogmas,  in  order  that  every  one  may  know 
definitely  what  he  must  believe,  and  how  he  must  win  salvation." 

"  In  faith  there  lies  a  malignant  principle.''^  "  Faith  is  the 
opposite  of  love."  "Faith  condemns,  anathematizes ;  all  the 
actions,  all  the  dispositions,  which  contradict  love,  humanity, 
reason,  accord  with  faith." 

Thus  says  the  author  of  the  "  Essence  of  Christianity."  And 
aside  from  various  passages  of  Scripture  which  he  misinter- 
preted, he  finds  real  occasion  of  oifence  in  the  theology  of  men. 
Thus — "  Si  quis  dixerit  .  .  qui  fidem  sine  charitate  habet, 
Christianum  non  esse,  anathema  sit." — Concil.  Trid,  (Sess. 
vi.,  De  Justif.,  can.  28.)  "  Haereticus  usu  omnium  jurium  des- 
titutus  est,  ut  deportatus." — J.  H.  Boehmer.  "  Eos  autemmerito 
torqueri,  qui  Deum  nesciunt,  ut  impios,  ut  injustos,  nisi  pro- 
fanus  nemo  deliberat :  quum  parentem  omnium  et  dominum 
omnium  non  minus  sceleris  sit  ignorare,  quam  laedere." — 
Minucius  Felix,  Octav.  c.  35.  "  Faith  and  love  are  two  things. 
Faith  endures  nothing,  love  endures  all  things.  Faith  curses, 
love  blesses  :  faith  seeks  vengeance  and  punishment,  love  seeks 
orbearance  and  forgiveness." — Luther,  lom.  vi.  p.  94. 


APPENDIX.  271 

"  Phrases  equally  strong,"  says  Coleridge,  speaking  of  Lu- 
ther's doctrine  of  the  will,  "are  no  rarities  in  the  writings  of 
Luther;  for  Catachresis  was  the  favorite  figure  of  speech  in 
that  age." 

The  various  phases  of  antinomianisra,  and  the  proneness  of 
human  nature  itself  to  "  lengthen  the  creed  and  shorten  the 
Decalogue,"  are  too  well  known,  or  at  least  too  much  talked  of, 
to  call  for  citations  here.  Faith  became  divested  of  moral 
quality,  we  think,  briefly,  thus  : 

In  the  age  of  the  Reformation,  the  term  faith  was  generally 
restricted  by  the  Protestants  to  denote  the  act  which  secured 
justification.  The  proposition  that  man  is  justified  by  faith 
in  Christ  alone,  was  confounded  with  its  converse,  X\idXfaithin 
Christ  only  justifies.  Sanctification  was  made  a  sequel  of  jus- 
tification rather  than  a  work  of  faith — not  a  proper  fruit  of 
faith,  but  an  indirect  result.  Hence,  faith  not  only  ceased  to 
be  meritorious,  but  it  too  often  lost  all  moral  character,  and  by 
the  meeting  of  two  extremes,  the  new  doctrine  of  faith  occa- 
sioned the  same  lax  morality  which  it  had  sought  to  avoid.  This 
■  iew,  we  think,  is  justified  by  the  statements  of  Hagenbach, 
Hist,  of  Doct.  ^  250,  251,  298. 

Statements  of  the  true  view. — "  Sed  cur  et  Fides  dea  credita 
est,  et  accepit  ipsa  templum  et  altare  ?  Quam  quisquis  pra- 
denter  agnoscit,  habitaculum  illi  se  ipsum  facit.  Unde  autem 
sciunt  illi  quid  sit  fides,  cujus  primum  et  maximum  officium  est, 
ut  in  verum  credatur  Deum  1  Sed  cur  non  suflfecerat  virtus  1 
Nonne  ibi  est  fides?  Quandoquidem  virtutem  in  quatuor  species 
distribuendam  esse  viderunt,  prudentiam,  justitiam,  fortitudinem, 
temperantiam.  Et  quoniam  istae  singulae  species  suas  habent, 
in  partibus  justitiae  fides  est :  maximumque  locum  apnd  nos 
habet,  quicunque  scimus  quid  set,  quod  Justus  ex  fide  vivit^ — 
Augustine^  De  Civ.  Dei.  Lib.  iv.  c.  xx. 

And  while  Luther  protested  against  the  Romish  doctrine  of 
faith  as  meritorious,  and  the  chief  of  the  virtues,  it  is  worthy  of 
notice  that  in  his  distinction  between  justification  by  faith  and 
justification  by  law,  he  speaks  of  faith  as  a  species  of  worship. 


272  APPENDIX. 

"  Fides  est  \aTpua,  quae  accepit  a  Deo  oblata  beneficia ;  jus- 
titia  leget  est  Xarpua,  quae  ofFert  Deo  nostra  merita.  Fide  sic 
vult  coli  Deus,  ut  ab  ipso  accipiamus  ea,  quae  promittit  et  ofFert." 
Apol.  Conf.  p.  69,  cf.  p.  126.  He  says  also  :  "  Faith  is  rightly 
named  justification,  because  it  is  obedience  to  the  Gospel." 
Page  125. 

And  in  the  Formula  Concordiae,  though  the  distinction  be- 
tween faith  and  works  is  still  maintained,  they  are  made  insep- 
arable, as  heat  and  light  cannot  be  separated  from  fire,  or  as  it 
is  the  nature  of  the  tree  to  bear  fruit.  "  Est  fides  quiddam 
vivura,  efficax,  potens,  ita  ut  fieri  non  possit,  quin  semper  bona 
operetur." — De  Bonis  Operibus,  iv. 

"  In  opposition  to  this  Protestant  Orthodoxy,  that  had  fallen 
away  from  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  Reformation,  and 
therefore,  clung  with  the  greater  obstinacy  to  the  letter  of  its 
symbolical  books,  Spener  insisted  upon  a  living  faith  rooted  in 
the  regenerate  will,  and  undertook  to  revivify  religion,  that  had 
perished  in  the  stiff  forms  of  a  mechanical  orthodoxy."  This 
passage,  from  the  Memoir  of  Dr.  Moehler,  by  the  translator  of 
SchlegePs  "  Philosophy  of  History,"  is  very  significant,  both 
as  a  tribute  to  the  views  of  Spener,  and  as  showing  the  most 
serious  difficulty  which  the  pious  Romanist  finds  with  Protest- 
antism. 

"  In  fine,  the  embracing  Christian  doctrine   doth  suppose    a 

mind  imbued  with  all  kind  of  virtuous  disposition  in  some  de- 
gree."— Barrow,  Sermon  II.,  on  the  Creed. 

"  Faith  pours  vigor  into  the  affections,  as  well  as  into  the 
will.  It  gives  energy  to  the  action  of  the  heart.  It  is  an  enemy 
of  debility  ;  it  makes  those  who  possess  it  mighty  in  the  power 
of  love." — Vpham,  Life  of  Faith,  Part  I.  ch.  ii.  "  Faith  is  the 
source,  the  parent  of  all  true  feeling." — Ch.  vi.  , 

"  The  moral  government  of  God  as  far  as  we  know  it,  is 
only  a  method  of  training  the  conscience,  and,  by  means  of  the 
conscience,  the  will  of  man.  For  this  great  purpose,  no  trial 
or  discipline  is  of  a  higher  and  more  powerful  nature  than  the 
offer  of  the  Gospel.     When  men  are  called  upon  to  repent,  or 


APPENDIX.  273 

change  their  will  from  the  indulgence  of  the  selfish  passions  to 
the  habitual  determination  of  embracing  that  which,  on  every 
occasion,  the  conscience  shall  approve  as  best,  they  cannot  an- 
swer with  any  show  of  reason  that  they  are  not  able  to  under- 
stand what  is  proposed  to  them." — /.  Blanco  White,  Heresy 
and  Orthodoxy,  Letter  II.  ^ 

These  testimonies  might,  of  course,  be  extended  indefinitely, 
by  citations  from  manifold  treatises  against  antinomiauism. 


13 


NOTE     D, 


To  the  testimonies  contained  in  the  above  notes  we  here  add 
a  few  citations  to  support  the  three-fold  definition,  and  extend- 
ed import,  of  Faith,  assigned  by  our  author. 

Dr.  ThoKick,  in  his  Commentary  on  Romans,  iv.  3,  says  : 
"  Among  the  Jews  there  are  many  who  appreciate  the  high  im- 
portance of  religious  faith,  as  an  inward  giving  up  of  self  to 
God.  To  this  purpose,  Philo  has  various  beautiful  passages. 
De  Abrahamo,  p.  386  :  '  The  one  only  sure  and  infallible  good 
is  faith,  the  faith  that  is  fixed  upon  God ;  it  is  the  consolation 
of  life,  the  fulfillment  of  hope,  the  absence  of  evil,  and  the  price 
of  every  blessing  ;  it  is  the  ignorance  of  misery,  the  knowledge 
if  piety,  and  the  inheritance  of  felicity  ;  it  is  that  which  per- 
fects every  thing,  depending  as  it  does  upon  the  great  First 
Cause,  who  has  power  to  do  all  things,  but  who  wills  only  the 
best.'  In  the  sequel  he  styles  faith,  the  '  queen  of  virtues.' 
More  especially,  however,  in  his  work,  Quis  rerum  div.  haeres  ? 
p.  493 :  "  Abraham  believed  in  God,  and  to  have  done  so  re- 
dounds  to  his  praise.  Some,  indeed,  may  perhaps  insinuate 
that  there  is  nothing  very  commendable  in  that,  and  may  ask, 
if  any  one,  even  the  most  unjust  and  impious  of  men,  would  not 
give  heed  to  the  words  and  promises  of  God,  To  whom  we 
reply:  Beware  then  of  inconsiderately  defrauding  the  wise  man 
of  his  merited  eulogium, — of  assigning  faith,  which  is  the  most 
perfect  of  virtues,  to  the  unworthy,  or  of  casting  reproach  upon 
our  knowledge  of  this  subject.  For  if  you  please  to  search 
more  deeply,  and  not  keep  to  the  mere  surface  of  things,  you 


APPENDIX.  275 

will  readily  perceive,  that  to  believe  in  God  alone,  and  in  noth- 
ing else  besides,  is  by  no  means  an  easy  matter,  etc." 

John  of  Damascus,  the  most  considerable  writer  of  the  eighth 
century,  speaks  of  faith  as  two-fold.  "  For  there  is  a  faith 
which  comes  by  hearing  ;  for  when  we  hear  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tures, we  give  credence  to  the  teaching  of  the  Holy  Spirit ; 
and  this  [faith]  is  perfected  in  all  the  commands  of  Christ,  a 
faith  that  works  (I'pyw  Triarevovaa),  reverently  doing  the  precepts  of 
Him  who  hath  renewed  us.  And  there  is  also  a  faith,  the  con- 
fidence of  things  hoped  for,  the  full  conviction  of  things  not 
seen  (Heb.  xi.  1.),  the  undisturbed  and  unshaken  hope  of  the 
things  promised  to  us  by  God,  and  of  the  answer  to  our  pray- 
ers. The  former  is  of  ourselves,  the  act  of  our  own  will  (r^j 
fjni-epasyvwuris);  the  latter  is  a  gift  of  the  Spirit." — De  Fide  Orthod. 
iv.  10  ;  cited  by  Hagenbach,  Hist,  of  Doc,  ^  186. 

This  is  a  distinction  of  the  objects  of  faith,  (viz.,  of  duty  and 
reward,)  rather  than  of  the  nature  of  faith.  The  first  division 
alone  contains  all  that  is  given  in  our  author's  definition. 

Hugo  of  St.  Victor,  of  "  profoundly  spiritual  mind,"  says  Dr. 
Hase,  who  died  a.d.  1141,  "  looked  upon  faith,  on  the  one  hand 
as  (cognitio)  of  the  intellect,  and  on  the  other  as  (affectus)  of 
the  emotions." — Hagenbach,  ibid. 

Among  the  Schoolmen  we  find  the  "  Master  of  Sentences" 
making  a  distinction  between  belief  in  a  God,  (credere  Deum) 
the  belief  of  God  (credere  Deo),  and  trust  in  God  (credere  in 
Deum),  and  saying  that  "  to  trust  in  God  is  by  believing  to  love 
Him,  by  believing  to  go  to  Him,  by  believing  to  cleave  unto 
Him,  and  to  become  one  of  the  members  of  His  body.  By  this 
faith  the  sinner  is  justified,  so  that  faith  itself  thenceforth  be- 
gins to  work  by  love."  Again,  he  says  that  "love  itself  is  a 
work  of  faith."— Sent.  1.  iii.  dist.  23,  D. 

Thomas  Aquinas,  "  the  Angelical  Doctor,"  whose  writings 
are  commended  by  such  men  as  Sir  William  Hamilton  and  Dr. 
Tholiick,  after  defining  faith  as  a  "  habit  of  the  soul  by  which 
eternal  life  is  begun  in  us,  causing  the  intellect  to  assent  to  the 


276  APPENDIX. 

existence  of  things  unseen,"  and  remarking  that  to  believe  is 
immediately  an  act  of  the  intellect,  since  the  object  of  faith  is 
a  [supposed]  truth, — proceeds  to  say,  "  the  act  of  faith  is  related 
to  an  object  of  the  will,  or  to  something  good,  as  an  end.  But 
this  good  which  is  the  end  of  faith,  (that  is,  a  divine  good,)  is 
the  proper  object  [also]  of  love.  And  therefore  love  is  called 
the  form  of  faith,  inasmuch  as  by  love  the  act  of  faith  is  formed 
and  perfected." — Summa,  P.  ii.  2;    Quaest.  iv    1.  2. 

The  "  fides  formata"  is  also  distinguished  by  Lombard  from 
"fides  informis,"  or  faith  without  love. — 1.  c. 

Jeremy  Taylor  speaks  of  faith  as  including  "  an  act  of  the 
will  in  it  as  well  as  of  the  understanding,  as  much  love  in  it  as 
discursive  power.  True  Christian  faith  must  have  in  it  some- 
thing of  in-evidence,  something  that  must  be  made  up  by  duty 
and  by  obedience." — ^^A^orthy  Communicant,  cited  by  Coleridge, 
Aids,  Aphorisms,  on  Spiritual  Rel.  xxii.,  xxiii.  Compare  the 
Bishop's  Sermon  on  "  Fides  Formata  ;  or,  Faith  Working  by 
Love." 

Again  he  says  :  "  unless  faith  be  made  moral  by  the  mixture 
of  choice  and  charity,  it  is  nothing  but  a  natural  perfection ; 
not  a  grace  or  a  virtue." — Lib.  of  Proph.  IL  9. 

Baxter  says  : — Faith  is  "  an  act  of  the  moral  reason." 
Dr.  Knapp,  while  he  follows  the  common  division  of  faith  as 
consisting  of  three  parts,  knowledge  (cognitio,  notitia),  assent 
(assensus),  and  trust  or  confidence  (fiducia),  remarks  :  "  But  all 
these  parts  do  not  belong  to  Christian  faith  as  directed  to  each 
particular  object.  They  all  belong  only  to  faith  in  promises. 
Knowledge  and  assent  merely  are  requisite  to  the  faith  in  events 
and  doctrines ;  and  a  will  and  inclination  to  obey,  to  faith  in 
the  Divine  commands.  To  avoid  this  inconvenience,  faith  might 
be  made  to  consist  in  two  particulars, — knowledge.,  and  a  dis- 
position of  heart  correspondent  to  this  knowledge,  {k-rriyvwaig  koI 
ahdriais  :  Phil.  i.  9,)  according  to  which  one  would  be  inclined 
to  obey  the  Divine  commands,  and  confide  in  the  Divine  prom- 
ises. Many  theologians  prefer  this  division." — Christ.  Theol. 
^  cxxii.     Wood's  Trans. 


NOTE     E. 


AUTHORITIES    TOUCHING     SECTARIANISM. 

The  common  defence  of  the  present  division  of  the  Church 
into  various  sects  with  various  creeds,  is,  that  this  is  necessary 
in  order  to  maintain  purity  of  Christian  doctrine  against  heresy. 
The  fallacy  of  this  plea  lies  in  the  false  meaning  attached  to 
the  word  "  heresy."  It  is  taken  to  denote  doctrinal  error ; 
whereas  it  really  means  "  division,"  or  any  cause  that  produces 
division.  It  does  not  refer  mainly  or  properly  to  doctrinal  mat- 
ters, but  to  discord  and  dissension,  of  which  wrong  doctrine  is 
only  one  among  many  occasions. 

This  appears  even  from  the  use  of  the  word  in  the  New 
Testament.  In  five  of  the  ten  passages  where  it  occurs,  it  sig- 
nifies "  party"  or  "  sect."  (Acts  V.  17  ;  XV.  5  ;  xxiv.  5  ;  xxvi. 
5  ;  xxviii.  22.)  In  Acts  xxiv.  14,  it  "  properly  denotes,"  says 
Bloomfield,  "  only  the  taking  up  of  an  opinion,  well  or  ill  found- 
ed [i.  e.  as  the  rallying  cry  of  a  sect]  ;  and  Paul  means  to  take 
exception  at  the  invidious  sense  which  the  word  admitted,  and 
in  which  it  was  used  by  his  opponents  ;  just  as  our  word  new- 
fangled, which  properly  denotes  only  what  is  newly-taken." 

In  1  Cor.  xi.  19,  the  word  plainly  signifies  divisions,  and  not 
doctrinal  errors  ;  for  they  are  not  the  subject  of  discourse. 
Hence,  Calvin,  commenting  on  the  passage,  says,  "  envy  and 
pride  are  the  source  of  almost  all  heresies  ;"  and  compares 
heresy  with  schism,  defining  the  latter  as  a  secret  grudge  or 
progressive  contention,  and  the  former  as  the  open  warfare,  di- 
viding men  into  opposite  sects.  So  likewise  Chrysostom  and 
Theodoret.  And  Suicer,  on  the  word  "  heresy,"  says,  "it  is 
not  to  be  disguised  that  the  ancients  did  not  understand  by  it 
doctrines  contrary  to  orthodoxy,  but  contentions,  etc." 


278  APPENDIX. 

These  "  contentions,  etc,"  are  named  more  particularly  by- 
Paul  in  Gal.  v.  30,  as  "  hatred,  variance,  emulations,  wrath, 
strife,  seditions,  heresies,  envyings,  murders,"  and  all  other 
v^orks  of  the  flesh.  Hence,  in  2  Pet.  ii.  1,  where  "  damnable," 
or  rather  "  destructive  heresies"  (aipeWt?  a-wXeiaj)  are  named  as 
brought  in  by  false  teachers,  the  context  shows  that  "  covetous- 
ness"  is  their  capital  error.  They  "  make  merchandise"  of  their 
heresies,  loving,  like  Balaam,  the  "  wages  of  unrighteousness." 
The  heresies  were  such  as  no  pure-minded  Christian  could  fall 
into.  Hence,  again,  in  Titus  iii.  10,  the  disciples  are  directed 
to  reject  the  heretic  after  the  first  and  second  admonition,  on 
the  ground  that  he  is  manifestly  such,  and  cannot  himself  pre- 
tend a  denial  of  it ;  "  knowing  that  he  is  such,  is  subverted,  and 
sinneth,  and  is  condemned  of  himself."  Upon  which  Jeremy 
Taylor  remarks  :  "  Just  so  it  is  in  heresy  ;  if  it  be  a  design  of 
ambition,  and  making  of  a  sect,  (so  Erasmus  expounds  St.  Paul 
aiperiKov  a:^dp(j3iTov,  scctarum  autorem,)  if  it  be  for  filthy  lucre's 
sake,  as  it  was  in  some  that  were  of  the  circumcision ;  if  it  be 
of  pride  and  love  of  pre-eminence,  as  it  was  in  Diotrephes 
h  ^i\QiTpcjyTEvoiv, — or  out  of  peevishucss  and  indocibleness  of  dis- 
position, or  of  a  contentious  spirit,  i.  e.,  that  their  feet  are  not 
shod  with  the  preparation  of  the  gospel  of  peace — in  all  these 
cases  the  error  is  just  so  damnable  as  is  its  principle  ;  but 
therefore,  not  damnable  in  itself,  but  by  reason  of  its  adhe- 
rency."  And  again  :  "  Faith  being  a  doctrine  of  piety  as  well 
as  truth,  that  which  was  destructive  either  of  fundamental  verity 
or  of  Christian  sanctity,  was  against  faith ;  and  if  it  made  a 
sect,  was  heresy  ;  if  not,  it  ended  in  personal  impiety,  and  went 
no  further."* 

From  this  view,  that  seems  to  follow  which  has  been  often 
remarked  and  asserted,  that  Sectarianism  is  Heresy.  It  agrees 
also  with  the  statement  that  heresy  "  is  to  be  accounted  accord- 
ing to  the  strict  capacity   of  the  Christian  faith,  and  not  of 

*  Lib.  of  Proph.,  I.  9.,  II.  15,  cf.  Jas.  Foster,  On  Ileresj^,  and  Dr.  Arnold,  Life 
and  Corr.  Let.  Ixx. 


APPENDIX.  279 

opinions  speculative,  nor  ever  to  pious  persons.'''"*'  It  also  agrees 
with  the  remark  of  iVugustine  :  "  I  may  be  in  error,  but  I  will 
not  be  a  heretic," 

Another  weighty  inference  seems  equally  clear.  Since  heresy 
is  the  guilty  cause  of  division  among  Christians,  it  may  be 
found,  not  only  in  the  denial  of  a  fundamental  truth,  but  in  the 
insisting  upon  that  which  is  not  fundamental,  as  though  it  were 
so.  For  either  of  these  must  end  in  division.  There  is,  then, 
the  heresy  of  denial,  and  the  heresy  of  imposition  ;  each  equally 
germain  to  the  true  notion  of  that  much  abused  term ;  and  it 
is  hardly  a  paradox,  when  we  say  that  those  who  happen  to  be 
most  orthodox,  if  they  make  their  views  a  test  of  communion 
with  those  Christians  who  have  not  yet  embraced  them,  are 
ipso  facto  the  heretical  party.  Which  accords  with  what  was 
once  said  of  those  who  would  impose  a  tenet  of  their  leaders 
on  the  consciences  of  others:  "We  judge  the  authors  of  the 
opinion  to  be  Catholic,  and  those  who  followed  in  the  same 
opinion  to  be  heretical.  We  excuse  the  teachers  and  condemn 
the  scholars.  Those  who  wrote  the  books  are  the  heirs  of 
heaven,  while  the  defenders  of  these  very  books  are  thrust 
down  to  hell."f  And  we  are  told,  what  in  this  view  would 
more  than  any  thing  else  confirm  to  Athanasius  the  title  of 
"  Father  of  Orthodoxy,"  on  the  supposition  that  the  Creed  as- 
cribed to  him  were  genuine, — that  he  framed  his  Confession  of 
Faith,  "  not  with  a  design  to  impose  it  upon  others,  but  to  de- 
clare his  own  belief."!  -^^^  ^^®  definition  of  heresy  given 
by  Milton  meets  only  this  case,  in  which  one  may  hold  all  the 
cardinal  truths,  but  adds  other  matters  as  part  of  the  foundation  : 
"  Heresy  is  a  religion  taken  up  and  believed  from  the  traditions 
of  men  and  additions  to  the  Word  of  God. "^ 

And  if  heresy  is  never  to  be  asserted  "  of  pious  persons," 
does  it  not  follow  that  all  Christians  do  hold  the  fundamental 

*  Lib.  of  Proph. 

t  Vincent  of  Lerius,  Adv.  Haere.s,  c.ll.    See  Lib.  of  Proph., II.  22. 
+  Non  per  nioduui  symboli,  sed  per  modum  doctrinje. — Aquinas,  Summa^  III- 
xxiL  1,  of  I .  Tayior,  Nat/  Hist,  of  Fanaticism ;  of  the  Symbol. 
§  Of  True  Eeligion,  etc 


280  APPENDIX. 

doctrines  of  saving  faith  ?     If  so,  the  famous  canon  of  an  ancient 
writer,  that  so  much  is  cardinal  truth  as  has  been  held  "  semper, 
.    ubique,  et  ab  omnibus,"  at  all  times,  in  all  places,  and  by  all, 
if  it  be  not  a  barren  truism,  indicates  that  in  fundamental  doc- 
trines. Christians  are  infallible.     And  may  not  this  fact  meet 
all  that  is  just  in  the  demand  of  the  Romanist,  that  there  should 
be  "  a  Church  infallible  in  fundamentals  V   With  this  view  of 
the  case  would  agree  the  statement  of  Chillingworth,  when,  de- 
nying that  the  Church  is  "  an  infallible  ^uide  in  fundamentals," 
he  says,  "  That  there  should  always  be  '  a  Church  infallible  in 
fundamentals,'  we  easily  grant,  for  it  comes  tone  more  but  this, 
'  that  there  should  always  be  a  Church.'  "*     But  how  can  this 
be,   except  on  the  principle  that  the  individual,  however  he 
may  err  in  drawing  the  line  that  divides  between  essentials  and 
non-essentials,  or  by  adding  to  the  fundamentals, — yet  in  these 
is  truly  "  taught  of  God,"  and  cannot  err  unless  by  apostasy. 
And  here  belong  the  views  of  various  eminent  men  respect- 
ing the  difference  between  points  that  are,  and  that  are  not, 
fundamental.     Thus  the  younger  Turretin,  the  same  who  said 
that  "  the  greatest  heresy  is  a  wicked  life,"  remarks  that  "  the 
essential  doctrines  of  religion  are  plain,  adapted  to  common  ca- 
pacities, and  free  from  all  the  subtle  and  intricate  distinctions 
of  the   school ;"   they  are  "  few  in  number,"  they  are  "  very 
often  and  various  ways  repeated  and  inculcated  in  Scripture  ;" 
and  they  are  "principles  of  piety,  "f 

And  Chillingworth,  who  was,  perhaps,  the  first  to  state  fairly 
and  fully  the  principles  of  Protestantism,  or  the  right  of  private 
judgment,  says  :  "  Those  truths  will  be  fundamental  which  are 
evidently  revealed  in  Scripture,  and  commanded  to  be  preached 
to  all  men  ;  those  not  fundamental,  which  are  obscure."  And 
when  asked  whether  the  Apostle's  Creed  contains  all  funda- 
mentals, as  if,  believing  it  alone,  we  were  at  liberty  to  deny 
all  other  points  of  Scripture,"  he  replies  very  truly  :  "  It  was 

*  Religion  of  Protestants,  c.  3,  §  39. 

t  Discourse  on  the  Fundamental  Articles  in  Religion. 


APPENDIX.  281 

never  alleged  to  any  such  purpose,  but  only  as  a  sufficient,  or 
rather  more  than  a  sufficient,  summary  of  those  points  of  faith, 
which  were  of  necessity  to  be  believed  actually  and  explicitly."* 

James  Foster,  who  maintained  for  a  long  time  the  first  place 
among  the  most  admired  preachers  of  his  day,  says,  a  funda- 
mental doctrine  must  be  "  so  plainly  and  distinctly  revealed,  as 
that  an  ordinary  Christian,  sincere  in  his  inquiries,  cannot  miss 
the  knowledge  of  it ;"  and  "  a  belief  of  it  must  be  made  an  ex- 
press term  of  happiness  in  the  sacred  writings."! 

And  Le  Clerc,  an  eminent  French  divine,  says  :  "  They  pro- 
fess and  teach  the  Christian  doctrine  in  the  purest  manner  of 
all,  who  propose  those  things  only  as  necessary  to  be  believed, 
practiced  or  hoped  for,  which  Christians  are  agreed  in." 

The  pernicious  consequences  of  adding  to  the  essentials  of 
salvation,  have  been  frequently  portrayed.  Says  Dr.  Arnold: 
"  Even  truth  is  not  always  to  be  insisted  upon,  if,  by  forcing  it 
upon  the  reception  of  those  who  are  not  prepared  for  it,  they 
are  thereby  tempted  to  renounce  what  is  not  only  true,  but  es- 
sential— a  character  which  assuredly  does  not  belong  to  all  true 
propositions,  whether  about  things  human  or  things  divine. "J 
And  Abp.Whately  :  "  God  forbid  that  the  Christian  should  deny 
or  explain  away  any  thing  that  is  part  of  his  faith,  for  the  sake 
of  moderating  the  hostility  or  escaping  the  scorn  that  may  be 
directed  against  it;  but  as  little  is  he  authorized  needlessly  to 
expose  his  religion  to  that  hostility  and  scorn,  by  maintaining 
or  allowing  to  be  maintained,  as  a  part  of  the  Christian  reve- 
lation, any  tenet  {however  intrinsically  true,)  which  the  Scrip- 
tures do  not  warrant.  The  same  authority  which  forbids  us  to 
'  diminish  aught'  not  warranted  of  God,  forbids  us  also  to  '  add 
thereto.  '  "^ 

This  statement  refers,  indeed,  to  the  author's  distinction,  but 
it  applies  to  the  present ;    and  it  authorizes  the  statement,  that 

*  Religion  of  Protestants,  c.  1.  §  16. 

t  Essay  on  Fndamentals. 

X  Life  and  Corr.,  Let.  Ixxiv.,  To  J.  Abbott. 

^  DifiBcultie.s  in  the  Writingfi  of  St.  Paul. 


282  APPENDIX. 

as  the  truth  may  be  held  in  unrighteousness,  so  likewise  it 
may  be  held  heretically. 

Of  the  evils  of  this,  Chilling-worth  has  given  a  lively  picture. 
"  Shall  it  be  a  fault  to  straiten  and  encumber  the  king's  high- 
ways with  public  nuisances — and  is  it  lawful,  by  adding  new 
articles  to  the  faith,  to  retrench  any  thing  from  the  King  of 
Heaven's  highway  to  eternal  happiness  ?"  And  Jeremy  Tay- 
lor :  "  If  the  Church,  by  declaring  an  article,  can  make  that  to 
be  necessary  which  before  was  not  necessary,  I  do  not  see  how 
it  can  stand  with  the  charity  of  the  Church  to  do  so  ;  especially 
after  so  long  experience  she  hath  had,  that  all  men  will  not  be- 
lieve every  such  decision  or  explication  ;  for  by  so  doing  she 
makes  the  narrow  way  to  heaven  narrower,  and  chalks  out  one 
more  path  to  the  devil  than  he  had  before  ;  and  yet  the  way 
was  broad  enough,  when  it  was  at  the  narrowest."*  And  Bax- 
ter :  "  Two  things  have  set  the  Church  on  fire,  and  been  the 
plagues  of  it  above  one  thousand  years  :  1,  Enlarging  our 
creed,  and  making  more  fundamentals  than  ever  God  made ; 
2,  Composing,  and  so  imposing,  our  creeds  and  confessions  in 
our  own  words  and  phrases."  f 

We  cannot  here  go  fully  into  the  question  whether  the  Church 
should  claim  the  Divinity  of  Christ  as  a  fundamental ;  or  whether 
it  should  be  allowed  that  all  who  accept  salvation  as  procured 
by  Christ,  are  Christians,  with  whatever  views  of  His  nature. 
But  the  practice  of  the  early  Church  in  this  matter  is  signifi- 
cant. Justin  Martyr,  speaking  of  the  pre-existence  of  Christ, 
says,  this  question  should  be  entirely  separated  from  that  of 
Jesus  being  the  Messiah.  "  For  there  are,"  he  says,  "some  of 
us  [literally,  some  of  our  sort,]  who,  confessing  him  to  be  the 
Christ,  yet  declare  him  to  be  a  man  descended  from  men."  | 

*Lib.  of  Proph.  112. 

t  Works,  vol.  iii.,p.  76. 

X  Kal  yap  dai  rivci,  cj  <pc)^oi,  sXeyov,  utto  tov  rjixcTepov  yivovs^  S/ioXoyoCjTfs 
avTdv  xpjffrdi/  zivai.  avdpoinov  6i  el  dpdpdonoyv  yei'6fitvov  dno^aiv6jiEvoi^  oig  ov 
cvvrideiiai,  ov6^  av  TrXeio-roi  ravra  fioi  So^affovres  elirouv.  Dial.  c.  Tryplio.  48. 
Bp.  Bull  contends  that,  instead  of  nyLtrepov  we  should  read  Vntrepov,  but  without 
warrant.  And  the  proposed  emendation  only  confirms  the  Bignifiranoe  of  the 
passage. 


APPENDIX.  283 

Nor  can  we  fully  meet  here  the  objection  that  liberty  in  non- 
essentials will  encourage  latitudinarian  license,  and  disregard 
of  truth.  A  single  citation  must  suffice  :  "  Toleration,"  says 
Turretin,  "  is  the  greatest  friend  to  truth,  and  the  contrary  its 
greatest  enemy  ;  for  if  the  strong  will  not  bear  with  the  weak, 
neither  will  the  weak  bear  with  the  strong  ;  for  every  man  counts 
himself  strong,  and  thus  all  will  come  to  condemn,  and  to  exe- 
cute one  another  ;  by  which  means,  truth  itself  will  be  banished 
out  of  many  parts  of  the  world."  And  again  :  "  If  improve- 
ments may  yet  be  made,  we  ought  by  all  means  to  bear  patiently 
with  those  who  offer  us  any  thing  new  ;  for  otherwise  we  sup- 
press all  improvements,  and  stifle  the  gift  of  prophecy,  and 
bring  in  sloth  and  barbarity ;  for  who  will  attempt  any  thing  of 
this  kind,  when  it  becomes  dangerous  to  do  it  V*  And  Chil- 
lingworth  :  "  He  that  could  assert  Christians  to  that  liberty 
which  Christ  and  his  Apostles  left  them,  must  needs  do  truth  a 
most  heroical  service."! 

Of  creeds  we  need  say  but  little.  It  has  often  been  remark- 
ed that  they  should  be  ever  expressed  in  the  very  words  of  the 
Bible,  lest  we  profanely  add  to  the  word  of  God,  or  assume  to 
make  the  sun  clearer  by  the  light  of  our  wax  tapers.  But  the 
history  of  creeds  sufficiently  condemns  them  as  unreliable.  Not 
only  do  they  commonly  make  the  easy  yoke  of  Christ  heavy, 
by  adding  to  the  essentials,  but  they  omit  things  that  are  es- 
sential. There  is  a  memorable  proof  of  this  in  the  fact  that  in 
a  Corpus  Confessionum,  ipiinted  at  Geneva  in  1612,  (when  and 
where  the  very  atmosphere  was  orthodox,)  and  designed  to  re- 
vive the  credit  of  some  of  the  Protestant  formularies  and  to 
show  a  substantial  harmony  against  the  cavils  of  the  Romanists, 
eleven  out  of  sixteen  of  the  collected  creeds  made  no  mention 
of  the  Resurrection  of  the  Dead. 

And  when  creeds  are  called  "  formularies,"  the  name  is  all 
too  appropriate.  "  I  dislike  articles,"  says  Dr.  Arnold,  "  be- 
cause they  represent  truth  untruly,  that  is,  in  an  unedifying 

*  On  Fundamentals,  vii.  6,  8.  t  Rel-  of  Prots.,  c.  4,  i  13. 


284  APPENDIX. 

manner,  and  thus  robbed  of  its  living  truth,  whilst  it  retains  its 
mere  ethical  form."* 

And  the  famous  passage  of  Chillingworth  is,  on  its  very  face, 
an  appeal  from  creeds  to  the  Bible.  "  By  the  Religion  of  Pro- 
testants I  do  not  understand  the  doctrine  of  Luther,  or  Calvin, 
or  Melancthon  ;  nor  the  Confession  of  Augusta,  or  Geneva,  nor 
the  Catechism  of  Heidelberg,  nor  the  Articles  of  the  Church  of 
England  ;  no,  nor  the  Harmony  of  the  Protestant  Confessions  ; 
but  that  wherein  they  all  agree,  and  which  they  all  subscribe 
with  a  greater  harmony,  as  a  perfect  rule  ol  their  faith  and  ac- 
tions ;  that  is,  the  Bible.  The  Bible,  I  say,  the  Bible  only,  is 
the  religion  of  Protestants  4  Whatsoever  else  they  believe  be- 
sides it,  and  the  plain,  irrefragable,  indubitable  consequences  of 
it,  well  may  they  hold  it  as  a  matter  of  opinion  ;  bat  as  a  mat- 
ter of  faith  and  religion,  neither  can  they  with  coherence  to 
their  own  grounds  believe  it  themselves,  nor  require  the  belief 
of  it  in  others,  without  most  high  and  most  schismatical  pre- 
sumption."! 

The  objection  still  remains  in  the  minds  of  many,  that  the 
preacher  of  the  Gospel  should  certainly  be  required  to  subscribe 
a  confession  of  faith,  so  that  truth  may  be  taught  in  its  purest 
possible  form  ;  while  the  laity  should  be  free  from  this  restric- 
tion. But  such  a  distinction  is  quite  as  vicious  in  principle 
as  that  which  Romanists  have  made  between  the  clergy  and  the 
laity  ;  and  its  tendency  is  quite  as  corrupting.  The  preacher 
is  made  the  repository  and  guardian  of  orthodoxy  ;  the  layman 
is  excused  from  that  care.  The  defence  of  truth,  or  rather  of 
a  particular  set  of  opinions,  is  made  the  business  of  a  class  ;  and 
in  this  defence,  if  not  in  self-defence,  the  clerical  order  becomes 

*  Life  and  Corr.  Lett.  Ixiii.  Ixi. 

t  Ch.  vi.  §  56.  "At  length  arose  the  immortal  Chillingworth,  who  disclaimed 
the  defence  of  the  Protestant  religion  as  it  lay  in  systems  and  confessions,  and 
appealed  to  the  Bible  only.  By  this  means  many  cavils  were  cut  off  at  once,  and 
many  confessions  of  systematical  doctors  rendered  of  no  use  to  Papists  at  all; 
who  being  well  aware  of  the  advantages  the  Popi.sh  cause  would  lose  by  this  ex- 
pedient, were  extremel}'  provoked  at  it.'" — Archd.Blackburne,  The  Confessional, 
c.  1.  note. 


APPENDIX.  285 

a» hierarchy.  Others  are  left  to  indulge  the  indiflference  to 
which  fallen  nature  is  too  prone,  or  their  inquiries  after  truth 
must  be  guided  by  a  fixed  yet  fallible  standard.  Orthodoxy, 
which  is  a  virtue  if  it  is  a  duty,  becomes  the  special  virtue  of  a 
class,  like  the  saintly  virtues  of  the  Romish  clergy,  the  lack  of 
which  is  no  sin  in  the  laity.  Heterodoxy,  or  rather,  free  in- 
quiry, becomes  dangerous  ;  there  is  a  mutual  bondage,  and  what 
wonder  if  there  is  a  common  corruption? 

It  is  true,  indeed,  that  the  teacher  should  know  more  of  the 
Scriptures  than  those  taught ;  not,  however,  that  he  may  have 
their  consciences  in  his  keeping,  but  precisely  because  they 
should  know  more  than  they  do.  His  special  qualification  is 
that  of  more  full  and  illustrative  knowledge,  directed  by  Chris- 
tian prudence,  and  sanctified  by  the  common  piety.  And  all 
these  things  are  to  the  essentials  of  the  faith,  what  the  fully  de- 
veloped symmetry  and  strengih  of  manhood  is  to  the  organism 
which  just  makes  the  human  form.  To  say  that  the  preacher 
shall  hold  a  doctrine  which  the  layman  need  not  hold,  is  as  if  he 
must  have  a  bone  to  his  skeleton  which  another  may  dispense 
with. 

This  view  is  not  new.  Says  Archd.  Blackburn  :  "  Certain 
it  is,  that  in  so  far  as  the  laity  are  allowed  not  to  be  bound  by 
these  Church  Confessions,  the  point  of  right  to  establish  them 
as  tests  of  orthodoxy  is  fairly  given  up,  as  well  for  the  clergy 
as  for  the  laity  ;  since  whatever  is  sufiicient  to  direct  the  faith 
and  practice  of  the  laymen,  must  likewise  be  sufficient  to  direct 
the  faith  and  practice  of  the  clergyman,  unless  the  clergyman 
may  be  obliged  to  teach  doctrines,  which  the  laymen  is  not  ob- 
liged either  to  believe  or  to  practice."* 

And  Chillingworth,  making  the  distinction  between  fundamen- 
tals, and  non-fundamentals,  calls  the  former  "  objects  of  faith 
in  and  for  themselves,  which  by  their  own  nature,  and 
God's  prime  intention,  are  essential  parts  of  the  Gospel; 
Buch  as  tlie  teachers  in  the  Church  cannot  without  mor- 
tal sin  omit  to  teach  the  learners,  and  such  as  are  in- 
*  The  Confessional,  c.  3. 


286  A  P  P  E  N  D  I      . 

trinsical  to  the  covenant  between  God  and  man  ;  and  not 
only  plainly  revealed  by  God,  and  so  certain  truths,  but  also 
commanded  to  be  preached  to  all  men,  and  to  be  believed  dis- 
tinctly by  all,  and  so  necessary  truths."  And  the  non-funda- 
mentals are  "  such  as  pastors  are  not  bound  to  teach  their  flock, 
nor  their  flock  to  know  and  remember  ;  no,  nor  their  pastors 
themselves  to  know  them  or  believe  them,  or  not  to  disbelieve 
them  absolutely  and  always  ;  but  then  only,  when  they  do  see  and 
know  them  to  be  delivered  in  Scripture  as  divine  revelations."* 

And  Dr.  Arnold  :  "  As  to  the  adhesion  of  the  inner  man  to 
any  set  of  religious  truths — this,  it  seems  to  me,  belongs  to  us 
as  Christians,  and  is,  in  fact,  a  part  of  the  notion  of  Christian 
faith,  which  faith  is  to  be  required  of  all  the  Church  alike,  so 
far  as  it  can  be  or  ought  to  be  required  of  any  one.  .  .  . 
If  they  [the  Articles]  are  a  burden,  all  ought  to  bear  it  alike  ; 
if  they  are  a  fair  test  of  Church  membership,  they  should  ex- 
tend to  all  alike."! 

Finally,  the  custom  by  which  the  prea'cher  of  the  Gospel  is 
required  to  assent  to  articles  of  faith  is  a  mere  usage,  unauthor- 
ized by  the  original  intent  of  the  best  established  Confessions. 
The  practice  is  in  fact,  what  the  practice  of  slaveholding  in  the 
Southern  states  is  believed  by  many  to  be,  unconstitutional. 

The  view  attributed  by  Aquinas  to  Athanasius,  already  cited, 
is  a  presumptive  proof  of  this  statement.  And  the  Father  of 
Orthodoxy  has  found  his  imitators  in  this  matter,  and  with 
good  reason ;  for  the  greatness  that  has  framed  the  most  en- 
during creeds,  has  usually  been  connected  with  sagacity  to 
perceive  their  fallibility,  and  with  the  hope  that  those  who  came 
after  would  enjoy  clearer  light  breaking  forth  from  the  Divine 
Word.  So  has  it  been  with  the  best  Reformers.  The  divines 
of  Westminster  were  very  far  from  expecting  their  Shorter 
Catechism,  much  less  their  larger  Confession,  to  become  a  rule 
of  orthodoxy.  "  When  it  was  proposed  by  the  Scots  Commis- 
sioners that  the  answers  of  the  Shorter  Catechism  should  be 

*  Eel.  of  Prots.,  c.  4,  §  3,  cf.  §  22.      t  Life  and  Cor.,  Let.  ccxixv.  cf.  Let.  cxvi. 


1 


APPENDIX.  287 

subscribed  by  the  members  of  that  body,  the  proposal  was 
rejected,  after  discussion,  as  an  unwarrantable  imposition ;  and 
not  for  forty  years  was  subscription  made  a  test  of  ministerial/ 
standing."*  Though  such  has  been  the  progress  of  ecclesias- 
tical fatuity,  that  a  minister,  holding  the  sentiments  of  the  West- 
minster Confession,  has  been  arraigned  and  excommunicated 
for  declaring  as  that  Assembly  did,  that  the  Confession  was  not 
to  be  made  a  test. 

But  the  American  branch  of  the  Presbyterian  family  design- 
ed no  such  thing.  The  Confession  and  Catechism  were  adopt- 
ed by  the  Synod  is  1729,  with  the  following  Proviso,  which 
contains  the  principle  of  Protestantism,  and  is  to  this  day  un- 
repealed : 

"  And  in  case  any  minister  of  the  Synod,  or  any  candidate 
for  the  ministry  shall  have  any  scruple,  with  respect  to  any  ar- 
ticle or  articles  of  said  Confession  ;  he  shall,  in  time  of  making 
said  declaration,  declare  his  scruples  to  the  Synod  or  Presby- 
tery ;  who  shall  notwithstanding  admit  him  to  the  exercise  of 
the  ministry  within  our  bounds,  and  to  ministerial  communion, 
if  the  Synod  or  Presbytery  shall  judge  his  scruples  not  essential, 
or  necessary  in  doctrine,  worship,  or  government." 

This  Proviso  was  made  the  basis  of  the  union  in  1758,  to 
accommodate  differences  in  doctrine  which  then  appeared.  And 
President  Davies,  speaking  of  the  practice  in  his  day,  says  : 
"  We  allowed  the  candidate  to  maintain  his  objections  against 
any  part  of  the  Confession,  and  the  judicatories  judged  whether 
the  articles  objected  to  were  essential  to  Christianity ;  and  if 
they  judged  they  were  not,  they  admitted  the  candidate,  not- 
withstanding his  objections."! 

The  full  benefits  of  this  Proviso  are  not,  however,  enjoyed, 
for  two  reasons.  By  the  Assembly's  act  of  1811,  the  Theolo- 
gical Professor  is  required  solemnly  to  promise  that  he  will  not 
"inculcate,  teach  or  insinuate  any  thing  which  shall  appear  to 
him  to  contradict  or  contravene,  either  directly  or  impliedly, 

*  Chas.  Beecher's  Discourses  on  "  The  Bible  a  Sufficient  Creed." 
t  Christian  Spectator,  March,  1835. 


288  APPENDIX. 

any  thing  taught  in  the  Confession  of  Faith  or  Catechism."  The 
Professor  is  to  the  Pastor  what  the  Pastor  is  to  the  layman  ;  and 
a  liberty  denied  to  the  one  is  not  likely  to  be  taught  to  the  other. 
Again,  this  Confession,  like  most  others,  combines  essentials 
and  non-essentials  in  the  same  document ;  and  the  distinction 
between  them  is  most  likely  not  to  be  made,  just  when  it  is 
most  needed. 

Confessions  more  brief  than  that  of  Westminister  are  for  the 
same  reason  more  apt  to  be  imposed  as  tests,  with  much  con- 
troversy as  to  the  import  of  subscription  to  them,  and  with  much 
occasion  of  stumbling  to  the  world.  From  this  point  of  view, 
we  offer  two  more  citations. 

"  We  may  talk,"  says  Dr.  Jebb,  "  of  the  sufficiency  of  the 
Scriptures  as  we  please  ;  but  while  the  laws  establishing  sub- 
scription to  human  formularies  remain,  [and  there  are  many 
Church  establishments  besides  the  Anglican],  the  voice  of  the 
Articles  shall  alone  be  heard  ;  the  ignorance  and  superstition 
of  mankind  shall  for  a  while  preserve  the  shadow  of  religion  in 
our  land,  but  its  substance  shall  be  nowhere  found.  Improve- 
ments in  science  and  the  arts  shall  at  length  disclose  the  as- 
tonishing absurdity  of  our  national  [denominational]  faith.  The 
Scriptures  shall  be  disbelieved,  because  their  genuine  simplicity 
and  excellence  are  concealed  by  designing  men  from  human 
view  ;  the  Articles  shall  be  disbelieved  because  they  are  held 
forth  to  it."*    . 

If  this  judgment  shall  appear  harsh  and  transatlantic,  the 
following,  from  Isaac  Taylor,  will  apply  with  greater  force  to 
our  more  numerous  sects  :  "  The  violence  of  religious  strife 
has,  indeed,  long  died  away;  or  it  breaks  out  only  for  a  mo- 
ment ;  but  no  relief  has  as  yet  been  administered  to  the  settled 
ill  consequences  of  that  delirium.  So  far  as  we  are  religious 
at  all,  the  English  people  is  a  nation  of  sects,  and  our  theology 
is  necessarily  the  theology  of  friction.  Not  a  false  theology — 
thank  God  ;  but  a  theology  that  is  confused,  entangled,  imper- 

*  Letters  on  Subscription. 


APPENDIX.  289 

feet  and  gloomy;  a  theology  which,  while  it  abundantly  breeds 
infidelity  among  the  educated  classes,  fails  to  spread  through 
the  body  of  the  population,  and  but  dimly,  or  only  as  a  flicker- 
ing candle,  illumines  the  world."* 

The  future  of  our  American  Christianity  is  unknown.  Let 
us  hope  that  the  spirit  of  faction  will  not  dash  us  in  pieces,  and 
reduce  us  to  individualism,  ere  we  learn  that  Christ,  and  not 
the  best  sect,  is  our  strength,  and  take  courage  to  stand  upon 
the  Rcok,  They  are  wise  words  which  the  French  Protestant 
and  martyr  has  said  :  "  At  the  Reformation  they  did  not  sys- 
tematize ;  they  felt  that  they  lived,  and  method  and  form  were 
neglected.  Afterward  came  a  season  of  repose  ;  the  clergy, 
in  certain  places,  formed  an  order.  Now  we  have  to  choose  : 
Catholicism  urges  us  ;  we  ought  to  be  openly  Protestants.  We 
have  kept  many  Catholic  rags  :  we  should  now  decidedly  dress 
ourselves  anew."f 

*  Nat.  Hist,  of  Fanaticism  Of  the  Symbol. 

t  Vinet;  Pastoral  Theology  ;  Trans,  by  Dr.  Skinner,  p.  47.  cf.  note  D,  and  the 
passages  there  cited  from  Neander,  Memorials  of  Christian  Life ;  part  i.  c.  4. 


THE    END. 


Or 
in 

tin 


